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Best fiction sci-fi films /comics

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The series 'Andromeda' - loved it! :)

Andromeda S1E12 The Mathematics Of Tears
TEXT: "Published on Aug 15, 2014: The Mathematics of Tears
"While Trance has taken an unannounced vacation, Dylan and the rest of the crew investigate the remains of a derelict High Guard starship, the Pax Magellanic. There they find the last of the crew over 300 years old, but seemingly unaffected by age. They claim that it is due to radiation from the destroyed planet nearby and since their slipstream drive was irreparably damaged, they have remained in the asteroid ruins of the planet."

P.S. I did a scan and this episode is missing the Wagner - The Flying Dutchman - during the battle scenes at the end. Must have been a copyright issue. It's been replaced with a very tepid version of the music. Too bad because the original track was dramatic and was very effective.
 
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No comics, but when it comes to sci-fi books - and fantasy (yep!) -

Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation Trilogy'

Cordwainer Smith's 'Instrumentality of Man' stuff

Frank Herbert's 'Dune' and 'Dune Messiah'

*** Anything by Ray Bradbury (major influence)

'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'

'Red Moon, Black Mountain' by Joy Chant (a sleeper of a book, but a perfectly realized world)

'The People' stories

*** Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels (major influence)

*** Olaf Stapeldon's 'Last and First Men' (and other works) (major influence)

Arthur C. Clarke (of course)

and many, many more......
 
Réné Laloux's Fantastic Planet (and all his short animated works including the one using artwork by the inmates of the asylum): it's stunning, provocative and in the tradition of all exceptional sci fi (1984, Blade Runner, Soylent Green, Solaris, Day of the Triffids, Dune, Rollerball, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, 2001, The Handmaid's Tale etc.) it is a commentary on the here and now of our wayward humanity.
The full feature is on YouTube as well.
 
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Easily one of the great overlooked classics of sci-fi cinema is John Boorman's great polemic Zardoz!
They just don't make them them the way they did in the 70's.
 
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Of great interest to Paracasters is The Omega Factor, a British sci fi BBC tv series that is what truly gave birth to the X-files. It is an in depth look into paranormal research with no mockery ever - it treats all phenomenon of the mind with absolute seriousness and sincerity while investigating gov't cover ups and secret manipulations of psi power. It is well worth the look - despite being shot on a shoestring budget the acting, effects and plot lines hold together very well. This YouTube episode is connected to the entire series, though each episode has been broken into pieces - still a fascinating look at trying to lift the veil of secret mahinations while scientifically investigating psi powers. Disc sets are available.
 
The best sci-fi movie never made is Jodorowsky's Dune. For those that love his eclectic cinema and who worship at The Holy Mountain, this documentary movie is a must see. What's fascinating about his artistry is that while his movie did not get made he ended up altering the entire trajectory of Hollywood sci-fi and horror cinema because of the various artists introduced to Hollywood through him and his attempt to get financing in America to compete the film. His trajectory was very different than Lynch and as much as I enjoy that director, his studio butchered version was a corrupted one. This is the real future that never was.
 
Sorry but this has touched a vein, but here's two more gems: one from Eastern Europe, a complete innovation of surreal set design and nuanced plot - a true multi-cultural future that envisions Venus' past civilization in a dynamic and truly creative manner. There is an entire strain of sci fi cinema from this part of the world and further east that we rarely see except in mutilated versions, translated and edited. Here it is intact, The First Spaceship to Venus, as we know it, A Silent Star:

And finally, one of the great gods of cinema turned his mind twice fully to sci fi in Solaris and in this brilliant precursor to what would ultimately become the Chernobyl incident, but Tarkovsky saw it first in the slow motion long takes of his mind, a Stalker that would take you into the heart of a dead zone so your greatest wish could be fulfilled - simply the best images you will see on screen. No one does reality as one long, prolonged hallucination better than him. Perhaps these images will be enough to intrigue you to seek it out:
 
Loved all your links, Burnt. I will pursue late this evening when the house is quiet. Science Fiction at its best is wonderfully refreshing. That said, one more Andromeda episode -

Andromeda Season 4 Episode 13 - The Warmth of an Invisible Light
TEXT: "Published on Aug 16, 2014: Andromeda Season 4 Episode 13: The Warmth of an Invisible Light
When Dylan activates an experimental cloaking device, he gets swept into an alternate dimension. Harper is the commander, he has overthrown the commonwealth, and is unknowingly working for the Abyss. Dylan looks for allies to oppose Harper, and to find a way to get back to his own dimension."
 
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