This is why older movies/shows are much better to watch, if you want to watch anything at all. Other than that I'd say read books from way back as well.
Reminds me of a story from when I was younger doing door-to-door sales (horrible job, never made so much money). One day an old couple opens the door, give the pitch and realize they aren't interested, so I start talking to them.
Guy tells me about his time in WW2, and how they wrote a couple books (and shows me the pictures in the book to highlight his presence). Tells a story about taking out a german airport. They were going from plane to plane planting C4 (or whatever explosive it was at the time, the story is about 20 years old now). Then, after all the planes were covered and hadn't been spotted, they started getting cocky and planting explosives on the radar tower, sentry towers, and at one point he was in a spot that he planted a bomb ON THE BACKPACK of a security guard. All without being spotted, then escaped and turned back to watch the whole place go up.
Are still good newer books written but you sorta have to look in the science-fiction section as most everything else tends to get formulaic.
Peter F Hamilton(Nights Dawn, Commonwealth and Void(trilogies), David Weber(Honor Harrington saga) and China Mieville(Perdido Street Station) would be a good place to start.
A somewhat older book that most people aren't aware of is Cosmic Banditos by A.C Weisbecker, that book is awesome, and it isn't science fiction....
The Honor Harrington saga would make a set of movies that would have Star Wars beat without breaking a sweat but that won't happen as they are decidedly right wing and that combined with a very strong female lead that is still actually female would make their heads explode anyway....
The Hamilton books would also do this if made into movies but they are also too sensible in their attitudes and narrative and would only be good if the complexity and nuance is kept and not mangled by way of Hollywood simplification.
Hell, they even managed to mangle Heinlein's Starship Troopers(which together with Tunnel In The Sky is his simplest books) and the 'Foundation' series is an utter woke mess trying to sell itself by namedropping the title and Asimov(put a spool of wire over his grave and the fillings in his teeth would probably induce a current in it because of the rate at which he's spinning in his grave over it...
Most old Scifi isn't really watchable unfortunately, at least for me. Thank god The Expanse hasn't been cancelled yet, and the creators have a long term plan for it. It's one of the last shows on TV that hasn't been infested and ruined by forced wokeness.
I agree with that, old sci-fi doesn't hold up but sometimes it's fun to watch for the cheesy-ness of it. This is why I watch movies or shows that are based in the past, like Little House on the Prairie. It's not very accurate to the books they're based on, but it's still a wholesome show regardless.
That's what is so sad about the situation. The production of scifi from the 80s just doesn't hold up to time, even if it's some of the most legendary ever made. I personally like hard science fiction which is believable, so the less realistic, the less watchable it becomes for me.
Seeing an old show for the first time is also very different to rewatching shows that you originally saw decades ago. I've tried starting a few shows that I never got into when I was young, but just couldn't do it. There are shows from the 90s that I'll definitely rewatch in future though.
If he's talking about sci-fi from the 50s, 60s, or early 70s, yeah then I agree that they don't hold up great, but the sci-fi from after that has been awesome, up until CGI came in and made everything look fake again.
This is why older movies/shows are much better to watch, if you want to watch anything at all. Other than that I'd say read books from way back as well.
Old books. Talk to old people. Good ways to gain some perspective.
Reminds me of a story from when I was younger doing door-to-door sales (horrible job, never made so much money). One day an old couple opens the door, give the pitch and realize they aren't interested, so I start talking to them.
Guy tells me about his time in WW2, and how they wrote a couple books (and shows me the pictures in the book to highlight his presence). Tells a story about taking out a german airport. They were going from plane to plane planting C4 (or whatever explosive it was at the time, the story is about 20 years old now). Then, after all the planes were covered and hadn't been spotted, they started getting cocky and planting explosives on the radar tower, sentry towers, and at one point he was in a spot that he planted a bomb ON THE BACKPACK of a security guard. All without being spotted, then escaped and turned back to watch the whole place go up.
Have to agree, most movies now are so quick to flash from movement to movement that it gets harder to even follow the sequence.
Not to mention, everything is so dark it's hard to even see what's going on.
Embrace the beauty of Retro
Are still good newer books written but you sorta have to look in the science-fiction section as most everything else tends to get formulaic.
Peter F Hamilton(Nights Dawn, Commonwealth and Void(trilogies), David Weber(Honor Harrington saga) and China Mieville(Perdido Street Station) would be a good place to start.
A somewhat older book that most people aren't aware of is Cosmic Banditos by A.C Weisbecker, that book is awesome, and it isn't science fiction....
The Honor Harrington saga would make a set of movies that would have Star Wars beat without breaking a sweat but that won't happen as they are decidedly right wing and that combined with a very strong female lead that is still actually female would make their heads explode anyway....
The Hamilton books would also do this if made into movies but they are also too sensible in their attitudes and narrative and would only be good if the complexity and nuance is kept and not mangled by way of Hollywood simplification.
Hell, they even managed to mangle Heinlein's Starship Troopers(which together with Tunnel In The Sky is his simplest books) and the 'Foundation' series is an utter woke mess trying to sell itself by namedropping the title and Asimov(put a spool of wire over his grave and the fillings in his teeth would probably induce a current in it because of the rate at which he's spinning in his grave over it...
Haha! have to agree--I've recently been watching old Columbo shows!
Most old Scifi isn't really watchable unfortunately, at least for me. Thank god The Expanse hasn't been cancelled yet, and the creators have a long term plan for it. It's one of the last shows on TV that hasn't been infested and ruined by forced wokeness.
I agree with that, old sci-fi doesn't hold up but sometimes it's fun to watch for the cheesy-ness of it. This is why I watch movies or shows that are based in the past, like Little House on the Prairie. It's not very accurate to the books they're based on, but it's still a wholesome show regardless.
That's what is so sad about the situation. The production of scifi from the 80s just doesn't hold up to time, even if it's some of the most legendary ever made. I personally like hard science fiction which is believable, so the less realistic, the less watchable it becomes for me.
Seeing an old show for the first time is also very different to rewatching shows that you originally saw decades ago. I've tried starting a few shows that I never got into when I was young, but just couldn't do it. There are shows from the 90s that I'll definitely rewatch in future though.
If he's talking about sci-fi from the 50s, 60s, or early 70s, yeah then I agree that they don't hold up great, but the sci-fi from after that has been awesome, up until CGI came in and made everything look fake again.