Hard to define what I like in science-fiction. I like it when science goes out the window and is replaced by all sorts of exotic and abstract ideas... but I also like it when a work sticks to reality and explores plausible concepts. A spaceship taking several months or even years to travel to Jupiter can be just as interesting as a spaceship being able to travel the entire cosmos in just a few seconds.

 

Star Wars use to define scifi for me, growing up. To me Star Wars was the most important movie series ever...Nowadays not so much...In fact really not at all...

I also grew up on a lot of Star Trek. Hate the fandom, though. I am unapologetically bigoted towards the majority of the fan base.(Disclaimer: This may not appy to you.) To me they're like on par with scientologists, if not worse in some ways.
Still enjoy the shows and films well enough though.

These days, when I think of most recent top tier expamles of scifi, I think of stuff like Firefly or District 9.

 

Star Wars

Transformers if that counts.

 

I never got the Firefly interest. I'll admit I haven't watched the series though. I've seen Serenity several times. To me, it's nothing more than a cheesy, sci-fi channel, B movie. I didn't find anything unique about it, but it might be that I need to watch Firefly to be more appreciative?

 

Yeah, that might have something to do with it.

By the way, you completely blew it by watching Serenity first. The series is better, but at this point, I don't know if you should even bother. None of the stories or character development are going to mean anything when you already know the end point. Someone should have stopped you.

 

The series is way better in than the movie, but the movie is great too. I didn't like Serenity the first time I saw it either. Then I decided to check out the TV show and I loved it. I went back and watched the movie again and enjoyed it a lot more. The movie is more of a complement to the TV show than anything and I believe that you need to watch the TV show first to get attached to the characters before Serenity happens.

Also, there is one thing I don't get. People who praise District 9, but hate on Avatar. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I loved both movies, but they have the same themes and characters with similar story arcs and plot elements. District 9 wasn't as intelligent as it was made out to be, but it still is a great movie.

 

I think the first Science Fiction show I really liked was Dr Who. Then I became interested in Star Wars, Red dwarf, Transformers and then most recently Star Trek. But I don't really have specific type of Science Fiction that I like. Although I do prefer more action packed movies/series.

 

Ones that are set within a century without too much "outlandinsh" gear or scenarios like teleportation (which needs at least a thousand years before I think it's possible), apocalypse movies involving robots and aliens, Star Wars III-VI, the new Star Trek series, advanced warfare, and time travel.

Now, if this was historical fiction scenarios, where the story is very possible in our near future, I say near-future history as the movie Red Dawn (1980s) did. The Homefront game counts as well

 

Now see, that's good input. I'm willing to go watch Firefly. I may consider Serenity a B movie scifi flick, but I always watch B movie scifi flicks.

 

"Impetuous boy!"

Flash didn't have a huge budget compared to the Star Wars or Star Trek films but is still great fun today, there's some great action and the soundtrack by Queen is amazing.

The movie gets criticised for being so over the top but that's why I like it so much...it's pure escapism and never comes close to taking itself too seriously which is great.

The mid-late 70's-early 80's was a golden time for sci-fi, Doctor Who peaked with Tom Baker, Star Wars arrived and conquered the world, Steven Spielberg gave us "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind" and "ET" , Ridley Scott helmed "Alien" & "Blade Runner", "Blake's 7" burned brightly for a few years and went out with one of the best finales ever and "Flash Gordon" was cheap but very cheerful and there were a few other things I've probably forgot as well....Star Trek has never been my thing.

Fast forward to now and Doctor Who is piss poor, overexposure of the Alien creature has lessened it's impact and in addition to jumping several sharks the Star Wars franchise is now owned by a whole different empire.

The only sci-fi film in recent years that I somewhat enjoyed was "District 9" but even that wasn't worth watching more than once.

What the old school films lacked in CGI wizardry was more than made up for by the timeless nature of the stories.

 

A little of this and a little of that.

I like adventurous/actiony stuff like Star Wars
I like dramatic/sciencey stuff like Star Trek
I like other worldly/parallel universey stuff like Sliders or Dr. Who (just started watching)
I like time travel stuff like Dr. Who or BttF
I like humorous mocking of sci-fi like Red Dwarf or Tremors
I like Space Aliens and future settings. I like killer robots and dinosaurs.

 

It also gets criticized by longtime Flash Gordon fans, I guess mostly for the more humorous tone, but really, the movie is surprisingly true to the source material. Not as true as the Filmation cartoon, but closer than most people give it credit for.

 

Star Trek, I only include bits of Enterprise into canon.
Star Wars, Mostly the original trilogy and eps III. I and II are bad.
Dr Who. I actually prefer the original series over the recent but the new stuff is watchable.
Babylon 5. gritty and more realistic than all of the above.
Flash Gordon. I like the 1980 movie but I actually prefer the old serial and the 70's toon (1st season).
BSG: Both series. I hate 1980.

 

Transformers, Bionicle, Star Wars..

Do you consider Lord of the Rings, Yu-Gi-Oh, Jurassic Park, and the super hero films science fiction?

 

lol no. Here's an easy test you can perform at home:

Is there a lot of science in Lord of the Rings? No? Then no, it can't be science fiction.

Super-hero movies, it depends on the character. Jurassic Park, sure.

Arrgh, I forgot Space: 1999. I love the first season of that show... like the second season...

 

lol Yeah, that's exactly what my thoughts were. Everyone has different opinions, though

 

1980s v and new v series

 

Star Wars Episodes 5, 3, 4, 6, 2 & 1 in that order... the 2003 (original) & 2008 Clone Wars series as well.

Almost anything Transformers (G1, Beast Wars, IDW comics, Bay, RID etc.)

Even G.I.Joe (All 1984 stuff, Spy Troops, Valor vs. Venom etc.) has alittle sci-fi (with Destro, Mindbender & the citizens of Cobra Law).

Movies like: Pitch Black, District 9, Avatar, The Thing '82 & 2011, Alien 1 & 2, Terminator 1, 2 & Salvation, The Fly 1 & 2 (remakes), Marvel & DC comic films (which have sci-fi elements which was stated earlier in this thread), the first Starship Troopers movie, I Am Legend, Underworld 1 & 2, Dune, Flash Gordon, Back To The Future 1 & 2, Flight Of The Navigator, Short Circuit, E.T. etc.

TV Series: V (original), Firefly & maybe even the first 2 seasons of Heroes

... there's quite a long list.