Pablo_Kielbasa's Mombasa

Some Really Cool Moments In Sci-Fi Cinema History


Here are some classic screen shots from sci-fi cinema that burned their way into our imagination, neurons and wallets. Enjoy!

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Who can possibly forget the climactic 'behanding' of Luke Skywalker, by his own father, Darth Vader? Fortunately, light saber wounds cauterize by their very nature, and no blood was lost, except bad family blood. Nothing like finding out Darth Vader is your father and having him cut your hand off on the same day. Poor Luke. How much can a young Jedi take?

The Terminator (1984): Remember when The Terminator tracked down Sarah Conner to a police station, coining that ubiquitous household phrase of the 80's and beyond, "I'll be back?". Of course you do.

Alien (1979): Dinner was never the same after Kane (John Hurt) haplessly became a living incubus for an alien chest burster in this classic sci-fi shocker moment. Perhaps just as strong a memory is how fast the scrappy little alien ran off the scene after growling at the ship's crew like a whacked-out Jack Russell Terrier. Toasty!

Back to the Future (1985): Quick! What happens when a Delorean equipped with a Flux Capacitor is juiced up to 1.21 gigawatts and sped up to 88 mph? Back to the Future, that's what! This awesome twin tire flame scene is symbolic of the films premise of cause and effect while shuttling between 2 temporal frames. A real keeper.

Star Trek TV series (1966): I'll confess I don't remember the exact details of this scene, but it has 2 classic elements in it: A shirt-less Sulu is hepped up on some type of toxin, and is chasing crew members around with a dueling sword, finally to be subdued by Spock's famous "Vulcan neck pinch". How many generations of school kids grew up with bruised collar bones trying to render each other unconscious cannot be calculated in a bold attempt to go where no kid has gone before.

Planet of the Apes (1968): The heart stopping climax to the original 'Planet of the Apes' saw missing astronaut Taylor (Charlton Heston) in insane contortions of fury, raging "You blew it up! Damn you! God damn you all to hell!". Doomsday themes were common back in the Cold War era, but this classic indelible finale by Heston just may overshadow, and summarize them all.

Forbidden Planet (1956): This terrifying example of early Hollywood animation is Dr. Edward Morbius's (Walter Pidgeon) "Id Beast", a manifestation of his inner rage projected into reality through a sprawling super computer built by an extinct race of aliens called the Krell. Just as memorable is the final few minutes of the movie when the Krell-enhanced physical manifestation of Morbius' id melts through several layers of impenetrable doors, only stopped by Morbius's own realization that the beast is his own Freudian spawn. *phew*

Spaceballs (1987): The plot? Planet Spaceball's President Scroob sends Lord Dark Helmet to steal Planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr can stop them. The above character? The lovable prehensile-eared Barf, played by the equally loveable John Candy. One of Mel Brook's timeless comedy classics (Mel both wrote, directed and starred in the film). Spaceballs is a very funny Star Wars spoof certainly worthy of mention. May the schwartz be with you!

Flesh Gordon (1974): A parody of the serial 'Flash Gordon' (1936) with a strong sexual campy flavor. The above scene shows Dr. Flexi Jerkoff (Joseph Hudgins) brandishing his mighty "power pasties" in an effort to save earth from the evil Dr. Wang and his insidious Sex Ray. A drive in favorite of the 70's, Flesh Gordon is just as bawdy and haughty today, although many of the scenes are only funny if you've seen the original. Quite outrageous!