By now, hopefully you’re aware that HBO Max has a killer back catalog of films. While a lot of subscribers are going to enjoy all the big Warner Bros. movies in 2021 (like Mortal Kombat!) on the streaming service, there’s plenty more to watch in the meantime.
Recently, we went through and highlighted some of the all-time sci-fi classics. We then touched upon a few of the deep cuts available. Now, we’re gonna straddle the line in-between. Here are some movies you’ve probably seen, probably liked, but for some reason or another, haven’t watched in a while. We think it might be time to revisit. Let us know what you think.
Batteries Not Included - This lovable little tale of miniature alien spaceships that help a bunch of humans has an incredible pedigree (produced by Steven Spielberg, co-written by Brad Bird) and is also one of those movies everyone knew about in the ‘80s but rarely talks about anymore. The story of evil property developers trying to threaten tenants out of their homes and businesses still holds up incredibly well.
Babe and Babe: Pig in the City - Two for the price of one in this entry. The Babe movies are what movies are all about: original, entertaining, heartwarming and funny. Both got incredible reviews, hold up wonderfully, and yet somehow rarely pop up in conversation. Yes, a talking pig is sci-fi, and let’s not forget Mad Max’s George Miller wrote and produced the first film (with Chris Noonan) and directed the sequel.
The Crow - The Crow is a movie that’s obviously beloved and does, in fact, get talked about quite a bit. But I’m putting it on here because I personally haven’t seen it in a long, long time and I’m really interested to watch and see how it holds up now after a decade-plus of comic book movie overload. I’m guessing it still looks pretty great.
Death Becomes Her - Though Robert Zemeckis made a name for himself with movies like Back to the Future and Forrest Gump, he’s also made some very great, very weird movies. The best known of those is this film about two women who figure out a way to live forever, but not how to keep their bodies looking the same. Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, can’t beat it.
The Devil’s Advocate - Before he was Neo and she was Furiosa, Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron made this movie where they play a couple that moves to New York for an incredible new opportunity—only to find out Satan is the reason. The Devil’s Advocate is probably best known for being one of the earliest out-there Al Pacino performances, but it’s also a pretty interesting, creepy supernatural thriller.
Innerspace - Martin Short plays a man mistakenly injected with a shrunken soldier played by Dennis Quaid in this very, very ‘80s sci-fi comedy. It’s, again, one of those movies you probably saw at some point in your life and only occasionally think about. It’s definitely a wild trip.
The Mummy - The 1999 version, not the 2017 version. This is the one that, in recent years, has continued to gain popularity despite it being a huge hit when it was released and spawning multiple sequels. There’s just something about Brendan Frasier’s big, dumb hero and Rachel Weisz’s stunning, genius heroine that’s missing from today’s fantasy adventures. This one gets better with age.
The NeverEnding Story - After the latest season of Stranger Things dusted off The NeverEnding Story for a key moment, I’ve been meaning to sit down and rewatch this storybook fantasy I loved as a kid. Atreyu, Bastian, Falkor, they are the best. Problem is, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. So, I’m guessing, you might have had the same experience.
Snakes on a Plane - Is Snakes On a Plane “technically” a great sci-fi film? Probably not, and yet, a ridiculous amount of killer snakes, on a plane, with Samuel L. Jackson? It feels right at home on this list anyway. Mostly though, that’s because I saw it when it came out, enjoyed it for what it was, and basically haven’t thought about it since.
12 Monkeys - When Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys was released in 1995, I was obsessed with it. Anything with time travel, twists, turns, that was my jam. Still is. I watched it a few times in theaters, brought the VHS home a lot, it was my thing. However, in the years since, this type of mind-bending sci-fi became increasingly popular and common so my love of this movie kind of fell to the side. It’s time to fix that.
V for Vendetta - Same story as 12 Monkeys. I loved V for Vendetta—directed by James McTeigue and written by the Wachowskis—when it first came out. I hadn’t read Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s DC series previously so I found this adaptation intense, shocking, and provocative...and ended up rewatching it a lot. But like many of your favorite movies, sometimes you move onto other things. Now I feel like this story of revolt, heroism, and sacrifice in a superhero skin would feel even more timely now than when the comic it was based, or the resulting movie, was released.
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DISCUSSION
Aight, you guys need to chill the fuck out with the ads. 25 fucking full phone screen ads between the top of this article and down to the discussion here. Not counting the video that auto starts at the top, and an ad at the bottom 1/4 of the screen I had to click to close.
The main problem is you all have a full screen ad in between the screenshot of each game and it’s title, making me scroll over an ad to link each and every fucking game up.
C’mon, really?