![]() | Forbidden Planet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.98 The first serious science fiction movie that wasn't "for the kiddies". Before "Star Trek" ever brought the "morality play" concept to television, "Forbidden Planet" did it first, and it still holds up fairly well by today's standards.
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![]() | Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition Without Bonus Disc)
Buy used from: $18.18 Of course, "Star Wars" is more space fantasy in the vein of "Buck Rogers" or "Flash Gordon". (Of course, it goes without saying that George Lucas tried to do a film version of "Buck Rogers" and failed, leading to "Star Wars".) Still, it's nice to see the not-perverted version of the trilogy.
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![]() | The Complete UFO Megaset
Buy new: $27.99 / Used from: $25.19 Aside from some dated elements to the series, like the purple wigs of the female moonbase personnel, the series holds up relatively well. More adult than anything Gerry Anderson ("Thunderbirds", "Captain Scarlet") did, it is a series with sinister undertones tackling social relevant issues of its day and today (e.g. the social issue of racism to the real issue of dealing with space junk).
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![]() | 2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $7.74 While I don't have this exact version, "2001: A Space Odyssey" has a lot to say... without much in the way of dialogue. It is very much a collage of humanity, indicating how much we really haven't changed since our "ape"/"caveman" days.
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![]() | Captain Scarlet - The Complete Series
Buy used from: $94.92 While inventive at the time, the series is often overlooked due to its puppet look, which is, sadly, laughable by today's standards. Regardless, the series deserves recognition for creating a genuine sense of psychological creepiness without resorting to the banal measure of incessant gore.
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![]() | The Outer Limits - The Original Series, Season 1
Buy used from: $8.45 The "newer" version of "The Outer Limits" doesn't hold a candle to Leslie Steven's classic anthology series in terms of story telling or subject matter. The only difference between TOL and "The Twilight Zone" is really that the series strives for true science fiction by way of telling stories relating to science and technology, even if sometimes hokey (like the queen bee who becomes human).
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![]() | The Prisoner: The Complete Series (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
Buy used from: $54.99 While more in the realm of speculative fiction, Patrick McGoohan's "The Prisoner" makes critical, timeless commentary on the role of society and how easily one can be oppressed by it via the use of "The Village" as a microcosm of human society.
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![]() | Space 1999 - 30th Anniversary Edition Megaset (17DVD)
Buy new: $39.99 / Used from: $33.98 A series that deserves to be looked at, at least for the beauty and lavish scope of it, particularly in its first season. Granted, some of the characters and stories leave a lot for granted, but the series isn't so much "science" fiction as it is "metaphysical" fiction.
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![]() | Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Epic Series
Buy new: $67.99 / Used from: $56.70 The original "Battlestar Galactica". While campy, it has a heart to it and a story that really didn't get a chance to be fully explored. Derided by the same people who believed that "Star Wars" was an original masterpiece (hah!), BSG was an epic television series simply too big for that medium.
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![]() | The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $4.10 A stunning, well acted classic story with a unique twist. Despite some dated elements in terms of special effects and slight sexism, it is otherwise a far more wonderful adaptation of the radio drama than the Tom Cruise vehicle.
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