After seeing a thread entitled 'Babylon 5', I began to wonder what the last good science fiction movies or TV series that don't involve some kind of fantasy or paranormal aspect to them have been. Just think of it:

Battlestar Galactic -- "angels" or whatever they were
Babylon 5 -- reincarnation
Matrix trilogy -- ends in fantasy
Star Wars -- telekinetics

I would even say that time travel borders on paranormal, just because of all the paradoxes and logical inconsistencies that arise from its usage, so shows/movies like Star Trek, 12 Monkeys, etc. are out.

I'm not saying these are bad, just wondered where I might find some actual science fiction. The last really great science fiction movie I saw that fits the mold I'm talking about was Gattaca.

Anybody have some good examples?

Destination Moon, then 2001, then . . .

ETA: Firefly/Serenity was pretty good and didn't even have aliens. Solaris (the original Russian movie, Solyaris, being the better, I think), but this movie may not fit your criteria. Blade Runner, Children of Men, Stalker. I had high hopes for the three Mars movies that came out a few years ago but alas . . .

Haven't seen Destination Moon, but 2001 arguably has fantasy elements.

Well, one could argue that the mental powers exhibited by River Tam move Firefly dangerously close to the paranormal. But don't get me wrong, I *love* Firefly!

I saw the remake, not the original, and I'm not even sure I know what the hell happened in the movie let alone know how to characterize it!

I haven't seen Blade Runner in quite a while, but I would agree with Children of Men. When I first watched it, I was a little "meh", but after watching it with the director's commentary I was a bit more impressed by it.

If you ever watch it just keep in mind that it was made in 1950 - it does have a little cornball added. But the science in it was top-notch, for the times.

I have my doubts about ever seeing a new, good hard-science space science fiction movie. I can always hope for a surprise . . .

I'm pretty sure that Star Cops, a short-lived TV series from the eighties, didn't have any fantasy elements, and was entirely hard science fiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Cops

It was not exactly a great success with the public, but I liked it.

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I'd agree with that. I would have liked to have seen more of that series. I'll put in a word for Planetes, a hard science fiction anime. I'm not aware of another anime that has done as much to avoid fantastic elements. The premise is a little unlkely (manned craft rendezvousing with orbital space debris), but not physically impossible, and they handle the issues of space travel well. They go to great pains to show people moving about in low gravity environments and show realistic problems.

As a story, I think it flagged a bit near the end, but I'd strongly recommend it.

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One could also argue that it's unheard of in the 'Verse, which makes it fair game.

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If you're talking about the book, and consider FTL to be a fantasy element, then yes, but FTL is a common conceit in science fiction. In any event, the movie wasn't clear on the meaning of the final events, so arguably there were no fantasy elements there.

I'd agree it wasn't quite as "hard" as the science fiction of Planetes, Star Cops or Destination Moon, but there is little that is.

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There was reincarnation in B5? IIRC, it was all left ambiguous. There was telepathy and Telekinesis, and time travel, and hyperspace, and energy beings and possibly souls, although that last one was also left rather ambiguous.

I think the reason why a lot of Science Fiction has some more fanciful aspects to it is because those are the questions that occupy the minds of the audience. A whodunnit in space might be considered science fiction, but it might not answer the question of "where do we go when we die?" There is a convention in science fiction writing that if a story can be written in space or on Earth and is the same story, then there's no need to do it in space. This kinda leaves Science Fiction writers with exploring the unknown, and if it's unknown, it's not a far cry from being something so unknown as to be unrecognizable in our current scientific conception reality.

But it's not just Science Fiction that resorts to Fantasy or the Paranormal. So does Hamlet and The Iliad.

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Temporary, as a result of the Brakiri holiday. Two minor characters, one new character to fill in some gaps in a new cast member's backstory, and one recurring character that had been previously killed off made brief returns.

Also, the series dipped one toe in the concept of an actual afterlife, a bit more explicitly so in the follow on series, Crusade.

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Surprised to find they only made 9 episodes...seems like there were many more.

Very good show.

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Trilogy? There was only one Matrix movie. (some language in comic may be NSFW)

Nick

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Maybe this new movie Moon, released next month, will be good science fiction: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/

We can hope . . .

Plot synopsis from IMDB:

The cartoon version of Herge's Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, were pretty faithful to the source material, and the source material was very good for it's time.

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Ah, good catch, I forgot about that bit, and the message relayed to Sheridan. I suppose they could still explain it away and leave it ambiguous.

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

There are several ways to write it off. Hypothetically, the Brakiri might have wanted to own where they were doing this to avoid any laws about hallucinogens they were distrubiting. The message makes me lean toward reincarnation, but I'll also believe that the messenger can do anything he says he can.

Wallace and Gromit in A Grand Day Out.

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A one-season in the middle 90's called "The Cape", adventures on the STS with Corbin Bernsen. I recall it being profoundly boring, but that was a while ago and I might be wrong.

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How so?

How about the whole having magic powers while outside of the Matrix.

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

Exactly! I was quite surprised when the genre changed from science fiction to fantasy. I hadn't expected that at all. And it was not a pleasant surprise.

One thing I can say about Matrix 3, though, is that it made me realize how good a movie Matrix 2 was.

I thought it had gone to fantasy with the "people as energy source" thing in the first movie. Though, sure, they had heavier fantasy elements later.

I suppose it could be the old "simulation within another simulation" gag.

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

However, the in-universe veracity of that statement might be inaccurate. Morpheus says that "combined with a form of fusion" as well. Some claim that the machines were farming humans because that was their design goal, and they were protecting humanity in a manner that prevented their own demise. Logical. The humans in Zion may not understand or ignore the machine's logic and apply their own assumptions, regardless of accuracy.

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"What you think you thought you saw you did not see." Agent J, MiB - Manhatten Bureau

After the end of Matrix 2, I remember being somewhat disappointed to see Neo's use of the power outside the Matrix, which seemed to annul the whole thesis of the first movie. Then I thought, wait a minute! What if what Neo and the rest think is the real world is just another layer to the Matrix, and they still hadn't really gotten out? So I was waiting to see if they would develop this idea in the third, but was sadly disappointed.

OUCH!

Nick

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The 1999 movie The Thirteenth Floor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/), while not as good as The Matrix, at least kept it to science fiction with no fantasy elements (as I recall). Added bonus: Gretchen Mol.

BTW, Are there plans for another Matrix movie? Seeing the initial war between humans and machines might be interesting.

They had a bit of that in The Animatrix.

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

well--except maybe that simulated beings could be "lifted" to the real (or higher level) simulation and take over a body there.

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Yes. You are right. There is that.

Yeah, I saw that in a theater randomly pretty much it. And enjoyed it. I think it got overshadowed by the Matrix so not too many people know about it.