We thought you might enjoy an off-the-cuff and somewhat random list of quirky retro movies and TV shows, as compiled by the Retro Thing elves. It's heavily slanted toward sci-fi (this is a gadget blog, after all). Our apologies if we've missed your favorites - let us know in the comments (Blade Runner, the original Battlestar Galactica, anything by Hitchcock, Soylent Green, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes, Hardware Wars, etc).
Metropolis on Kino Video: This is the authorized restoration that was
pristinely digitally remastered (I saw a 35mm print of it -
breathtaking), with the correct score. There are a lot of cheapie
versions out there, but this is the most complete. -bohus
Brazil: Terry Gilliam's wickedly strange fun tragic tale is set in a future that never was. -james
Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector's Edition): Robby the robot is often credited with stealing the show, but there is
a lot more going on than an insane mechanical man costume. A retelling
of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", this was one of the earliest high
budget sci-fi films (SF was usually relegated to 'B' movie status), and
it actually had something to say. The effects remain amazing (Disney
loaned the production some of their best animators to realize many of
the painstaking effects sequences), and I also love the all-electronic
score. It doesn't take an astute pupil of Star Trek to see that the
entire premise for the TV series is taken from this film. -bohus
Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition): This remastered 60th Anniversary Edition absolutely shines. It features
a state of the art digital transfer with amazing contrast and clarity
(and absolutely no dust, frame damage or jitter). Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. -james
Blakes 7 - Series 1: My favorite SF series, hands down. Shows how successfully you can
realize an SF show even on a BBC budget. Virtually unknown in the USA,
B7 consistently tops lists of the best SF series of all time. The
BBC has been slow to release these discs, and hasn't yet released them
in NTSC - so these are a listing for the PAL discs. -bohus