Ultra low budget sci-fi movies that are watchable

[system11]

holy crap Hardware! through the entire thread, i was wondering what this movie was. i now remember i watched it on a broadcast station at like 2 am in the mid 90s! really cool costumes and atmosphere. i made the opening character costume that year. welding goggles and all.

The director obviously liked his music too - the goggled drifter is Carl McCoy from Fields of The Nephilim, the radio DJ is Iggy Pop, and the taxi driver is Lemmy from Motorhead.

[Thunder Force]

I'll throw a vote out here for Sunshine. Really enjoyed that one.

Yes, probably not low budget, but certainly one of the best sci-fi Blu-ray discs around. Has some of the most amazing atmospheric 5.1 audio when cranked up loud!

[Thunder Force]

Today while driving I remembered a recent film I saw that perhaps fits this category.

The Objective (2008) - low budget military themed with sci-fi elements.

[system11]

It's got more horror than sci-fi in it, but there's a small amount of the latter.

Outpost - saw it recently and really liked it. Turns out it cost 200k to make and the people who did had to remortgage their house to pay for it.

[Thunder Force]

New Rose Hotel (1998) - not received well upon release, but surely a cult classic by now. Borderline sci-fi, but actually the most faithful on-screen adaptation of a William Gibson story, once you accept Asia Argento's terrible performance. Walken & Dafoe are perfect as characters from a Gibson universe, plus casting one of Square-Enix's famous JRPG character designers in the story somehow adds bizzare realism to that pivotal character. The more you drink while re-watching this the better the movie gets, try it, unfortunately the dvd is non-anamorphic.

Existenz (1999) - Cronenberg builds projectile weapons out of fish, and shows you the future of biological video game consoles. The spiritual sequel to Videodrome.

[FRO]

ICE PIRATES

Totally forgot about this one - classic!

[doctorx0079]

New Rose Hotel (1998) - not received well upon release, but surely a cult classic by now. Borderline sci-fi, but actually the most faithful on-screen adaptation of a William Gibson story, once you accept Asia Argento's terrible performance. Walken & Dafoe are perfect as characters from a Gibson universe, plus casting one of Square-Enix's famous JRPG character designers in the story somehow adds bizzare realism to that pivotal character. The more you drink while re-watching this the better the movie gets, try it, unfortunately the dvd is non-anamorphic.

I forgot he was in it! This is a good movie, especially if you like Gibson. It is a bit slow-moving and you have to be patient with it. Some complain that it is longer than the original story but I thought they did a good job of expanding it to feature length. This is the closest movie so far to Gibson's original vision, not Ghost in The Shell or The Matrix, and certainly not Johnny Mnemonic.

Existenz (1999) - Cronenberg builds projectile weapons out of fish, and shows you the future of biological video game consoles. The spiritual sequel to Videodrome.

That movie seems designed to make me nauseous. Also I don't know if it counts as low budget.

I just remembered one, Webmaster! It's this funky Danish movie about this very shy bald dude. He is like some kind of Zen monk who lives by himself in his perfectly clean apartment, meditates and lifts weights so he has big muscles, but he only communicates with people through his computer. He is webmaster for a server run by gangsters, he just does it for the money and doesn't ask questions, kind of like Bean Bandit. Then for some reason I forgot, they turn on him and he has to go out into the world outside. Oh yeah, he has 35 hours to find out who's stolen his bosses' money. He and his next-door neighbor who just happens to be a hot chick have to go into this kind of S&M underground and they see a lot of strange things and run around a lot. I can't remember exactly what happens but I remember it was awesome. Cool computer effects. If you see it around pick it up. Come to think of it I might want to get it now. It's kind of like Minority Report but it's more believable and it was made years before.

Does Scanners count as low-budget? Dunno but it's worth watching. The opening scene is infamous. Enjoy Michael Ironside smirking in what was probably his first movie role.

I think Equilibrium was a fairly low-budget movie but not lower than Terminator. Not too original but fun and almost believable. Roger Ebert's sleeper of the year that year.

[system11]

Well, it's not ultra-low at $5 million, but I just watched Moon, and it took me back to the years of classic sci-fi.

Just - don't watch the trailer because it's full of spoilers, go out and watch/rent/buy the film.

[1up]

Ive heard good things about moon. I was told it was along the lines of 2001 a space odyssey? slow paced, cinematic and lots of suspense.

Will have to watch it in the near future

[kengou]

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but I recently saw Primer and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite sci-fi films ever, now that (I think) I understand it. It was made on a budget of $7000.

On the other hand, I also saw Alien Apocalypse a little while ago. That is watchable ONLY because of the fantastic Mr. Bruce Campbell, who changed the movie from an unwatchable mess to a watchable and hilarious mess. I can't imagine that movie having much of a budget at all.

[1up]

Dont know how low budget this movie was but its from the 70s. Its called Westworld.

Its really good. Its about these robot cowboys running amok in a western themepark. Think Terminator before there was The Terminator. I think its awesome

[RGC]

.

[BIL]

Oh yeah, Westworld is awesome. Yul Brynner is one scary bald roboman.

[1up]

Oh yeah, Westworld is awesome. Yul Brynner is one scary bald roboman.

yea he plays that role pretty damn well. Its on all the time on TCM.

watched Night of the Comet not too long ago. It was ok/watchable

[Jon]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
Invaders From Mars (the cheesy 80's remake)
Food Of The Gods

The previously mentioned Ice Pirates is also awesome. I clearly remember seeing it in the theater as a wee one.

[jonny5]

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
Invaders From Mars (the cheesy 80's remake)
Food Of The Gods

The previously mentioned Ice Pirates is also awesome. I clearly remember seeing it in the theater as a wee one.

yes!!!

[greg]

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus! Starring Debbie Gibson, the chick I had a crush on in junior high in 1987! Shake your love! I just can't shake your love!