Hurricane29 Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Well, like the title says, what do you think is the most predominate cliche in SciFi movis. I have to go with the "Company". The company that runs everything in the universe, but never gets named. Quote
Akilae Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 I was under the impression that a lot get named.... errr.... the only one I can think of now is Wyland-Yutani Here's a few that might not be cliches, but what I find annoying: Terrans (humans, homo sapiens...) always get the bad hardware. Our ships are never better than our opponent's. Terrans always get the short end of the stick, trying to fend off some superior force (Battlefield Earth, War of the Worlds, Battlestar Galactica, etc..) Single alien organism wreaks havoc on humans (Alien, Predator, Event Horizon, etc..) An Antarctic base always figures into the movie (X-Files, Alien Hunter, etc..) My favorite cliche that a lot of movies have, although maybe on purpose: "I got a bad feeling about this..." Quote
Unknown Target Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 "Perfect soldier" robots, that have no fear and "no mercy", and are all-powerful, yet somehow the main character manages to defeat them. Annoying, bratty little kids that the small ones in the audience are supposed to "relate" to. Fighter pilot going YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW!!!!! as he blows up an enemy. I mean, seriously, couldn't they think of something like "Bogey down, bogey down, aquiring new target" sheesh! Quote
Pat Payne Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Here's a few: 1) Humans are either rock-jawed good guys who have evolved beyond hatred, war, money, etc. Or they're space conquistadores out to do the bidding of an intergalactic corporation in destroying the universe in the same manner the corporation destroyed the Earth. 2) Technology is either working miracles in SF, or it's totally worthless. Are there no Honda Civics in space? 3) THEY CAN ALL SPEAK ENGLISH! Even undiscovered alien pigmy slugs can speak English in at least space opera SF. 4) Vikings are always the bad guy--I'm sorry, that's a cliche of historical fiction. Quote
VF19 Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 I like "one of them can kill all of us, but in the sequel i'll come back with a mob of badasses and take 'em all out. Quote
JsARCLIGHT Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Ones that bug me the most: - Firey Explosions in Space - Bright Colorful Lasers - Cute Robots - The Doe-eyed Young Hero - The Wise-cracking but loveable space pirate - Post-apocalyptic anything Quote
Hiriyu Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 It's not really sci-fi, but I always find the "Magic Internet Computer System" pitifully annoying. You know, the one where the "1337 Computer HaXor" mashes a couple of buttons and a front page headline from the fricken' Clampett County Picayune comes up immediately, as if he's using a microfische reader; or a bunch of colorful lines and skulls converge onscreen and he shouts 'We're IN!!!', usually while haxoring the login for the DOJ or DOD's uber-super-computer? One more, while beloved, is the famous "He's Dead Jim". Who the hell DIDN'T die on that show? Quote
Mr March Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 (edited) Ones that bug me the most:- Post-apocalyptic anything I sure hope that doesn't include the good old George Miller flicks Edited October 16, 2003 by Mr March Quote
JsARCLIGHT Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Back during the punk movie explosion in the late '70s and early '80s Post Apocalypse was the "thing" to do. Such jems as Mad Max, Escape from New York and others blazed the way into the big budget "What came after" movies... nowadays the concept of some post world war 3 movie is just laughable like The Postman. Quote
Mr March Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Probably the worst are: - The timer to a bomb or cataclysmic disaster ALWAYS stopping at t-minus one second. - An entire alien race being behaviouraly identical - Earth is attacked/invaded/threatened - Energy weapons always depicted as superior to firearms despite low power, slow rate of fire, patheitc ammunition, no obvious advantage over a simpler firearm, et cetera. - Ridiculously unreliable technology Quote
Opus Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Are there no Honda Civics in space? Does a Winebago (sp?) count? Quote
Abombz!! Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 -Hotshots are always the first to die, while the silent guy always displays superior skills. <_ Quote
Mr March Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Back during the punk movie explosion in the late '70s and early '80s Post Apocalypse was the "thing" to do. Such jems as Mad Max, Escape from New York and others blazed the way into the big budget "What came after" movies... nowadays the concept of some post world war 3 movie is just laughable like The Postman. I'll take that as a no I agree the post-apocalyptic story is tired. Quote
Opus Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 I hate energy weapons that shoot brightly colored beams of light. I also hate how good guys and bad guys always use different colors. Quote
Isamu Atreides 86 Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 usually lots and lots of Cannon Fodder.... Ex.: Colonial Marines (Wierzbowski, anyone?) Storm Troopers and Rebel Soldiers Starfury pilots not named Ivanova, Sinclair, Garibaldi or Sheridan theres tons more examples, but yall get the idea. Quote
Isamu Atreides 86 Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 I hate energy weapons that shoot brightly colored beams of light. I also hate how good guys and bad guys always use different colors. i liked the way B5 explained the different colors: different production techniques to make the lasers.... Quote
KingNor Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 "IT" what ever "it" is, always goes for the air ducts. Rings comeing out from the explosions in space: Explosions in space are Spheres, not rings. for examples of doing this wrong: Starwars deathstar blowing up (remastered edition) , triangular pyrimid ship blowing up in Stargate. - definate pet peeve. if its a robot and looks like a human, it will eventually loose half its face. giant severed fish heads. Quote
Hurricane29 Posted October 16, 2003 Author Posted October 16, 2003 Wierzbowski Poor, poor Wierzbowski, Quote
Lightning Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 giant severed fish heads. LMAO sounds while in space annoy me. but without sound, where's the fun? Quote
KingNor Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 sounds while in space annoy me. but without sound, where's the fun? agreed, its stupid, but its a nessesary evil Quote
EXO Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Company build robot for evil... robot runs into little kid and gains understanding of good... robot goes after company and dies destroying it. Explosion propelling your escape instead of being engulfed by it. sounds while in space annoy me. but without sound, where's the fun? The only good thing about Final Fantasy Movie was they muffled the sound while in space. Quote
tom64ss Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 -Out of control artificial intelligence -Loud explosions in the vacuum of space -Bad guys have circular space craft, good guys have angular ones -Humans are the good guys -Force fields, cloaking devices, and tractor beams -Lasers make a "beeeeuuu" noise -Eutopia/distopia -A weapon that can destroy an entire planet with a single shot -Proton, photon, and neutron weapons Quote
J A Dare Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 - An entire alien race being behaviouraly identical And dress exactly the same! Imagine shopping in an alien departement store? Quote
J A Dare Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 Rings comeing out from the explosions in space: Explosions in space are Spheres, not rings. for examples of doing this wrong: Starwars deathstar blowing up (remastered edition) Actually, I believe it was a correction? If the Deathstar is like a celestrial body, it is travelling in an orbit and revolving about itself, like the Earth. From laws of physics, a "ring" explosion would occur due to momentum build up. Imagine a top spining and if you blew it up, see how the parts would fly off. Of course, the Deathstar is so large that you wouldn't notice the sense of it spinning. It's been too long since high school physics? Quote
Yohsho Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 -Hotshots are always the first to die, while the silent guy always displays superior skills. Doesn't that describe Roy and Max? My peeves, laser guns that just shoots one little blast while real lasers have to use a beam to do anything. Big explosions in space, with fire and stuff. Easy kill generic bad guys. One hit kills even if its a bullet to the arm. Quote
NERV Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 aliens that look basicly like humans with just minor differences, just cuz we are the dominant species on the planet doesnt mena that he human form is the best possible form Quote
GobotFool Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 (edited) aliens that look basicly like humans with just minor differences, just cuz we are the dominant species on the planet doesnt mena that he human form is the best possible form Gotta love treks forhead wrinkles. funky hair styles and silly accents I kinda take cliche in stride. though one that utterly gets on my nerves is, space fighters in space flying around like they are restricted by atmospheric conditions. Wish more people would take B5's approach to space battle. Edited October 16, 2003 by GobotFool Quote
GobotFool Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 - An entire alien race being behaviouraly identical And dress exactly the same! Imagine shopping in an alien departement store? Thats not so bad when say your dealing with an alien's military, but when you land on the planet and even the civies dress the same as the military. Also language and culture is often to over simplified, with a unified language for an entire species (humanity has well alot of different languages), a single culture (again many cultures exist on earth),,,,, Sheesh. Also aliens that are made to be a sterotype of some extreme aspect of humanity, Klingons, ferangi, vulcans. Quote
Mechamaniac Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 3) THEY CAN ALL SPEAK ENGLISH! Even undiscovered alien pigmy slugs can speak English in at least space opera SF. The other side of this coin.... Everyone can totally understand the wheezez, beeps, farts, and googles made by every droid or computer system in every show as if it's plain English. OR Everyone can understand every other alien race though they may have just met. I mean, really, if Wookies are known for being violent, and ripping off limbs quicker than a staten island ferry, how the hell did Han Solo manage to stay alive long enough to learn how to speak Wookie?. and for that matter, why did Han speak English to Chewie, and not Wookie if he knew how to understand it?. If Chewie knew English, and Han knew Wookie, why didn't they decide on one or the other? Hell, at least Star Trek explained it all off with some pseudo science a la the subdermal universal translator! AND - as pointed out by Gobotfool... Star Trek explaining away every new race with a different shade of skin paint, and more or less foliage on the head. The worst example of this were the Kazon, with the piles of Broccoli on their heads. I'm waiting for one of the crews to meet a race of interstellar Cuban refugees whose fruit basket hats eventually evolved into a skull plate. Quote
GobotFool Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 (edited) Everyone can totally understand the wheezez, beeps, farts, and googles made by every droid or computer system in every show as if it's plain English. OR Everyone can understand every other alien race though they may have just met. I mean, really, if Wookies are known for being violent, and ripping off limbs quicker than a staten island ferry, how the hell did Han Solo manage to stay alive long enough to learn how to speak Wookie?. and for that matter, why did Han speak English to Chewie, and not Wookie if he knew how to understand it?. If Chewie knew English, and Han knew Wookie, why didn't they decide on one or the other? well...... as much as I hate to admit any advanced knowledge of the EU for starwars, the explanation for this is this. Han saved Chewie. Under a cultural tradition Chewi owes han his life blah blah blah you know the routine. Also human vocal chords can not reproduce a majority of most alien sounds as aliens can't reproduce most human words. I think George wanted to develop a sense of a port language. For example how at ports many people pick up many different languages, and even at times a port will develop its own language based on a mixture of several different languages. But, thats hard to do, so what we ended up with was every human understanding every alien, and every alien understanding every human in the SW universe. Edited October 16, 2003 by GobotFool Quote
GobotFool Posted October 16, 2003 Posted October 16, 2003 oh and as far as cliche go I am suprised no one mentioned this. Technobabble Quote
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