 September 2, 2012 - 6:54pm | I've been enjoying exposing the kids to the Chronicals of Narnia the lastest Star Trek, and most recently The Lord of the Rings the Return of the King (its the only one we had in that trilogy). The Kids are out with the Mom and I'm channel surfing and encountered ET (the politically correct one where the film maker went back and used a computer to eliminate guns from the hands of FBI agents and replace them with walkie talkies. Thought occured to me how much my kids would enjoy ET as the humor is up their alley and the heros are their age. Although the 6 year old is bound to wear me out with questions. So I've made a mental note to not only look for the rest of the Lord of the Rings Trillogy at the library but also ET and I figured I'd pose the question of, Lets compose a bibilography of classic sci fi to expose our kids to sort of an indoctrination of all the sci fi goodness that went into developing our geekdomness. I'll start that list with ET, love it or hate it (and some people hate it) its geared to appeal to kids and the alien is pretty adorable which will grab my daughters I'm sure. It will also expose them to ideas of alien visitors, space travel, first contact and difficulty in communication. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
September 18, 2012 - 3:04pm | Yeah i bet my daughters would like flight of the navigator, its sort of a Free Willy in space and my mother just gave the the complete Free Willy DVD collection and they love that. Which kicks a new thought into higher brain functioning: this sort of story appeals to kids- they like to feel like they can help and thus you get stories with powerful yet needy in some way characters that a kid ends up helping, as seen in Free Willy, ET, Black Beauty, and Flight of the Navigator. There can be character development on both sides of that relationship but its not required. The point being that this might be an angle for writing a kids rpg adventure. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 1, 2012 - 9:16pm | I agree with these posts, and I think I have shown most of the movies mentioned here to my own kids. Let's see... we have The Day the Earth Stood Still, This Island Earth, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, The Absent-Minded Professor, 2001, Tron, Explorers, Coneheads, The Iron Giant, Close Encounters, Time Bandits, The Blob, The Fly, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein, Flight of the Navigator, The Black Hole, The Last Starfighter, Batteries Not Included, Demolition Man, The 5th Element, Sleeper, Evolution, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Lathe of Heaven, and tons of superhero movies. Bear in mind, not all of these are G-rated (or even PG), and some need to have the finger on the FF button, depending on the age of the kids. My kids have become huge fans of the original Battlestar Galactica. Their opinion of the remake series was that it had good effects, but wasn't as much fun. They now love Godzilla, Space: 1999, Star Wars, the original Star Trek, Next Generation, Voyager, Doctor Who (new & classic), the Planet of the Apes movies, Lost in Space, The Martian Chronicles, and the original Land of the Lost. My older kids have started watching Babylon 5, and so far they love it. |
 October 1, 2012 - 10:14pm | Wait, has the Sam Jones Flash Gordon made the list yet? I haven't seen it since I was a kid but despite the horrid special effects I had a lot of fun watching that flick. dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun Dun Dun Dun DUN DUN DUN Flash...A-AHHHHH!!! He'll save every one of us! |
 October 1, 2012 - 10:35pm | Shadow, that was the best Flash Gordon made. I am not sure after watching the old Flash Gordon seriel show that the special effects were very modern. Some of the old stuff had better FX. I would love them to remake that now with a better fx budget. |
 October 1, 2012 - 10:57pm | I want to see Flash Gordon again. You struck a nostalgia bone. I loved the music in that movie and listened to it a ton back then. -iggy |
October 1, 2012 - 11:18pm | I would love them to remake that now with a better fx budget.
Suffice it to say, at least in that sense, there's nothing but room for improvement. Much like the new Judge Dredd flick. Now there's a remake that can't go wrong. "I am..da luw!" ;) |
 October 2, 2012 - 3:46pm | Have the Sam Jones Flash Gordon and love it. Still thinking since that one was as a not serious homage to the originals (Loved Cheerleader Dale) any remake in vein would probably star Adam Sandler as Ming. Which begs the question who would you want to see in the key roles? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 2, 2012 - 5:35pm | Which begs the question who would you want to see in the key roles? Dale - Charisma Carpenter (Buffy/Angel, Expendables) Zarkov - Harrison Ford: wise cracker and still does his own stunts at 70! Barin - Justin Hartley (Smallville): he pulls off green quite well. Vultan - John Rhys-Davies: Gimli with wings, 'nuff said. Aura - Shannen Doherty: only because she's a bitch in real life too. Ming - Steven Seagall --- fight scene with Matt for the win, 2nd choice John Malkovich |
October 2, 2012 - 5:57pm | I could probably role with Shadow's choice of characters except for Ming- dont know who I would propose as Ming just not sure about the ones he proposed and if it was Adam Sandler as Ming I wouldn't even be tempted to watch it at the movie and perhaps not on TV. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 2, 2012 - 6:29pm | Ming should be Yun-Fat Chow for a more serious role or Jackie Chan for a light fun role. -iggy |
October 2, 2012 - 7:58pm | Ming should be Chow Yun-Fat
Good call, but then you'd need an Asian Aura and cross-eyed Lucy Liu is out of the question. |
October 3, 2012 - 2:22am | The episode of Star Trek Voyager with the spider queen - now THAT was a good Ming. |
October 3, 2012 - 5:09am | Jackie Chan can do serious parts, you have to see his "1911" it was quite good as long as you dont mind reading subtitles. I had to do some searching for Bossmoss's Ming on youtube- I agree it was a good Ming for a holodeck characiture but for a Flash remake if they dont get the casting for Ming right the movie is doomed. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 3, 2012 - 4:25pm | They definitely played it as deliberately campy & over the top. The whole "Captain Proton" holodeck program is obviously Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers. Still, it is fun! |
October 11, 2012 - 5:16am | So I found a complete set of Jason of Star Command, Space Accedemy, and Ark II box set for $70 should I drop the money? Thinking if I do this will go into the closet as a Christmas present. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 11, 2012 - 2:58pm | Present for Who? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 11, 2012 - 3:06pm | Present for Who? Well the kid's of course but nothing says I cant enjoy something the kids get as well. I think that ARK II will be right up their alley as the cast includes a kid and a chimp. For now I've got Black Hole coming and possibly ET but since they discovered a copy of LOTR Return of the King and watch it constantly I figure I should purchase the trilogy and just donate the single copy of Return of the king to the library in exchange for wiping out some library fines. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 12, 2012 - 10:17am | If you can live without the cash (ie, if it isn't needed for the basic necessities of life - bills, food, rent, etc - then yeah, go for it. :) Also, I guess depending upon the age of the kids in question, Frank Oz's 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors might be good too. The adult themes are a bit too much for younger kids though. You know, sadism, axe murdering and all that stuff. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you!  |
October 12, 2012 - 9:17pm | Jedion, Don't drop $70 for that collection. I got it at a Store out here for $30. I will look and see if I can find it again. Email me and we can talk about it, |
 October 12, 2012 - 9:44pm | I'll openly admit it, I am one of those haters of E.T. after having seen the first 2 Star Wars, Star Trek II TWOK, Firefox and Blade Runner, E.T. looked lame and awful in comparison. I would never subject my kids to such garbage. You guys hit on most of the good stuff already. Being the anime fan I am you might want to suggest Robotech, not Macross as uncut you know how anime can get. I'd also recommend a series that I haven't heard too much of but it took me by surprise, Heroic Age is an epic sci-fi you'd think was influenced by Babylon 5 as it kind of plays out like that. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
October 13, 2012 - 4:03am | I'll openly admit it, I am one of those haters of E.T. after having seen the first 2 Star Wars, Star Trek II TWOK, Firefox and Blade Runner, E.T. looked lame and awful in comparison. I would never subject my kids to such garbage. You guys hit on most of the good stuff already. Being the anime fan I am you might want to suggest Robotech, not Macross as uncut you know how anime can get. I'd also recommend a series that I haven't heard too much of but it took me by surprise, Heroic Age is an epic sci-fi you'd think was influenced by Babylon 5 as it kind of plays out like that. Oh, I agree that ET is not great sci-fi of the stripe that I prefer BUT I recognize the elements in the movie that my kids will like and its ok with me that I only have girls not boys- I've more or less made peace with that and accept things for what they are. My feeling is that if I can pick it up on the cheap, and it fires their imagination in some way its cool with me. I have a strong suspicion that the kids will watch it repeatedly for awhile which will be a relief from yet another viewing of a Disney Princess video or the latest dance school recital. Plus if memory serve there is a scene where the kids are playing D&D and its not presented in a negative or super geeky light which is actually refreshing and the writer in me would like to audit that scene for possible future articles. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 20, 2012 - 9:27am | That giant research ship in The Black Hole was really cool and offers some ideas for SF. The cutesy robots are really annoying but depending on the ages of your kids they will probably enjoy it. One other show to consider is Star Blazers. It's anime that ran on television in the U.S.A. during the 1979-1982 time period. It went by several different names (aka Battleship Yamato) but the version that ran here had many of the WWII references and explicit material edited out. I don't remeber much about it other than we thought it was really cool as kids. |
October 20, 2012 - 11:19am | I need to revise my earlier comment on ET having a positive portrayal of D&D; it was simply not negative but i would call it possitive. The kids are totally self obsorbed and a bit obnoxious but otherwise its not negative. And it was cool to watch the extras and cast reunion clips as well as deleted scenes. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 20, 2012 - 12:19pm | The Black Hole stands as the only Disney released film to recieve a PG rating. It was during their trouble times when they thought they were going to go bankrupt. Of course they now own several other studios which make Non-G rated movies for them. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 20, 2012 - 12:50pm | My wife brought home the 25th anniversary ET DVD, the agents had guns. Boy was I relieved... Fun Fact: there was a deleted scene in E.T. with Harrison Ford: |
 October 20, 2012 - 5:31pm | The Black Hole stands as the only Disney released film to recieve a PG rating. It was during their trouble times when they thought they were going to go bankrupt. Of course they now own several other studios which make Non-G rated movies for them. Including Buena Vista and their latest acquisition Marvel |
October 20, 2012 - 9:04pm | The Black Hole stands as the only Disney released film to recieve a PG rating. It was during their trouble times when they thought they were going to go bankrupt. Of course they now own several other studios which make Non-G rated movies for them. Including Buena Vista and their latest acquisition Marvel At least they dont own WotC. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 21, 2012 - 1:08am | and their latest acquisition Marvel
Groan, I can see it now: Wolverine III - Mickey's Revenge |
October 21, 2012 - 4:59am | While we are on this topic, several of the movies listed as "kid friendly" include scenes of character deaths. At what age do you consider letting a child see characters die as still being "kid friendly"? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
October 21, 2012 - 2:37pm | I'd say age 8 and up. George made Star Wars for kids 8-12 --- both trilogies, which is half the reason most of us grown ups don't care as much for the newer trilogy, he didn't make it for us nerds ;) --- and there are certainly a lot of deaths in those flicks. Ben in New Hope (at least we were initially led to believe he died) Han potentially facing death via the carbon freezing chamber in ESB, Anakin/Vader in ROTJ, Qui Gon in PM, Shmi in ATOC, Mace in ROTS, and countless pilots/soldiers/jedi in all the flicks. |
