9.) Firefly - safe - transporting cattle
Who says that people in the future still love beef? Joss Whedon that's who. Funny and uplifting in a genre that sometimes takes its utopian ideals a bit too far
8.) Battlestar Galactica season three - the trigger song
Weeks upon weeks of trying to work out what that tapping represented, knowing it sounded oddly familiar but not being able to
place it. Only to realise it was in fact the opening notes of All Along The Watchtower and screaming unceremoniously at the TV!
7.) War Of The Worlds - Steam power and gunpowder V.S unstoppable alien menace
A classic, War Of The Worlds wrote the blue print for alien invasions. It's had many adaptations over the years and been copied many, many times but whenever they make a film of it it really bugs me that they put it in a modern setting. Mainly because I want to see Victorian steam powered battle ships take on alien tripods in 1898 London.
6.) Star wars Episode One - The Phantom Menace- Two against one, is that really the Jedi way?
Generally regarded as the worst Star wars film, one of the worst reboot, prequel, science fiction film, blockbuster, story, waste of money, spoiler of a franchise, George Lucas film, this film has one saving grace and in my mind makes buying the DVD almost worth it. It's the lightsaber fight between Obi-wan, Qui-Gonn and Darth Maul.The whole new trilogy was given a hit of emotional depth by the outcome of this fight which it needed but it wasn't enough. Plus Star Wars lightsaber fights aren't just lightsaber fights; they are the final ordeal before the hero is shown his true path. Something Lucas seemed to forget after this until the end of episode three.
5.) Judge Dredd : Chaos Day : Mega Citys dark night of the soul
Dredd is epic in its own right, a fascist cop in a dystopian hell who was bred to dispense instant and impartial justice from the smallest crime to the biggest. Many of his smaller stories that range from slap stick comedy to gritty realism are considered classics. Yet, his larger stories tend to be a bit formulaic. Evil threatens the city, Dredd seems to have lost, a few citizens die and Dredd fights his way with the help of other major Judges to the villain and kills him. Day of Chaos broke that mold and sent it to exile in the Cursed Earth. In the space of a day (48 weeks if not there and reading it in 2000AD) the Sovs infected the city with a virus killing 87% of the population. The epic part of this story for me was the last instalment which had Dredd struggling to come to terms with the fact that the Judges had lost.
4.) Doctor Who : The Name Of the Doctor : What the hell is Tom Hurt doing there!?
I tend not to think of Doctor Who as Science Fiction. Under the latest writer Moffat it has become more of a fairy tale and I think it suits it. The science doesn't make sense, the plot twists seem out of sorts with the general transition of the story and you know what, long may it continue. Putting it back into its rightful place as a sci fi the sudden insertion of a dark Doctor into his regeneration time line was a stroke of genius. At the end of the episode, before it was explained who or what this 'war' Doctor was every whovian sat at the edge of the sofa (not behind it) muttering to themselves 'what?' whilst clutching their sonic screw drivers in disbelief.
3.) Doctor Who : The day Of the Doctor : No sir! All thirteen of them!
Another Doctor Who entry from 2013! It was the year of The Doctor after all. I'm a passive viewer when it comes to TV, I internalise my excitement until afterwards so I don't bother the other people who are watching. But this moment had me jumping up from my seat in a pure joy and revelation. The Doctor is the only TV character that can make a surprise appearance on his own television show, and he did it here twelve times, no sir, all thirteen!
2.) Star Trek The Next Generation : The Best Of Both World part one: I am Locutus of Borg
I don't remember much from film and TV in the late 80's and early 90's. Brief flashes of The teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an obsession with Batman my mother said I'd grow out of (sorry mum), a deep resentment that RTE (the local Irish TV channel) wouldn't buy the rights to show The Simpsons and getting my Dad to climb onto the roof to fix the aerial one Christmas morning so I could watch cartoons. It's all blurry, flashes of bright colour and segments of speech except for this one scene. At this moment my love of Star trek was cemented into my brain forever. It also gave me nightmares as all good science fiction should, and a hate of end of season cliff hangers
1.) Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy - The answer to life the universe and everything
42! Nothing else needs be said. Well...
