Premise of thread (In a nutshell) List the sci-fi/fantasy television show/movie that you have never seen and others respond saying either to watch it or skip it. Then potentially you come back and say that was/wasn't worth viewing.

To start us off:

I've never seen... Blade Runner

It's not that I don't want to, I just never have. I highly doubt there is anyone out there who is going to suggest that I don't watch this film so the question then turns to 'If I was to only watch one version, which should it be?' My dad owns the 5 disc boxset which I think has 5 versions on it, so... which is the definitive version?

 

Lots of people complain about the voice-over in the theatrical release, but it does serve a purpose if you haven't read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." I would say start with that one. If you're curious, watch the others after.

As for Doctor Who, you have to remember first off that the show ran for 26 years. There was no effort made at consistency or continuity outside of the individual stories (except eventually the Dalek ones). As a result, there are 3 different Loch Ness Monsters, and 4 different mutually contradictory life forms that evolved on Mars. BBC treated it like a kiddie show and generally left it to fend for itself on a shoe-string budget. Some actors were better than others (Ridley Scott). Some writers were better than others(Terrence Dicks, Douglas Adams). Some characters were better than others. Personally, I like the 2nd and the 7th best. If you want to start somewhere from scratch either jump right in with the new series, or go back to "The War Games" which is the last story of the 2nd Doctor, and leads right into "Spearhead from Space" introducing the 3rd. Pacing is very different back in the old series. Many of what are now jargon terms that startrek bandies back in forth in casual conversation were brand new concepts that had to be explained to the audience back then.

 

Rebel_Padawan, I'd suggest watching the second version, which is basically the theatrical version but without the voice-over (I have no idea what its name is). After that, then I'd consider watching the theatrical version if you're still interested.

Jedi Merkurian, I would probably advise you to watch The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances from the new series as it has modern pacing and effects, but has good writing. Blink is an episode writen by the same author, and is considered one of the best of new Who, though it hardly features the Doctor at all.

The classic series is harder to pick a story from as it varies in style and quality so much. If you like like comedy, I'd recommend City of Death, which was re-written by Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams; if you like locked house murder mysteries I'd suggest The Robots of Death; and if you like Sherlock Holmes, then The Talons of Weng Chiang might be your thing (though it gets a lot of flack these days for casting a caucasian actor as an asian bad-guy, and its portrayal of the Chinese in general). Those all feature Tom Baker as the Doctor, though if you don't like him you might like one of the other actor's interpretations. I grew up with Baker as the Doctor, but I didn't become a fan until I saw the Peter Davison episode Earthshock; it's a matter of personal taste.

 

Plus, regarding Doctor Who, the notion of continuity has to be rather fluid for a show whose entire premise is an alien shapeshifter who travels through time on a regular basis, sometimes multiple times per episode.

 

I do and don't agree with that. I agree with you in the sense that Harrison Ford had persona and the right kind of voice to make the voice overs work. However, I don't agree with you in the sense that they felt tacked after the fact because they WERE tacked on after the fact. If they had integrated into the story from the start, they would have been much more effective.

 

True. Same way they were tacked onto the beginning of Dark City. The Director's Cut version without the voiceover is OK, but to me, not as good because of the other alterations made and the extra footage added didn't contribute that much to either movie. Dekkard's self analysis is pretty much totally ignored in every version of the movie. The dream sequence is totally over-hyped.
I'd be interested in seeing a good version of "Man in the High Castle," though I wouldn't trust hollywood with the project.

 

Rebel_Padawan: I would suggest BLADE RUNNER, The Director's Cut without the narration
simply because it's a distraction. The final narration in the original theatrical version is just
plain silly. To be opened minded, many people like the narration, so it boils down to seeing both
and deciding for yourself.

When BLADE RUNNER came out it bombed at the box office, what with Harrision Ford fresh from
RAIDERS and SW. Now most critics give it 4.5/5 stars. Ridley Scott? Top Cast? Visuals by
Douglas Trumbull? Original music by Vangelis (who was a child prodigy who also wrote the theme
for COSMOS as well as scoring THE BOUNTY, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, etc). And the critics panned it...

Enjoy. Seminal, original, creative movie worth seeing twice.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion...
- Roy Baty, BLADE RUNNER