What is the Name of This Movie?

What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally....

Ahem...being on holiday for the past two weeks I just now saw this AskaSciBlogger question and therefore have earned the rather embarrassing title of "Last to Respond." This does give me the advantage of reading my fellow ScienceBloggers' repsonses, which consist mainly of films that I have never seen (and never will, for that matter). Non omnia possumus omnes.

When it comes to revealing a succession of mind-blowing scientific concepts, however, can there be any doubt as to which movie left the most disturbing impression upon us? This same movie forced us to contemplate the consequences of our collective behavior, to ponder nervously about the fate of the human race and to gasp at the irony of evolution (or is it Intelligent Design, which makes the movie even more bizarre, if not unintentionally hilarious).

I shall pledge 1000 Columbian pesos to the first person who correctly guesses the name of this movie. Thank you, and goombye for now...

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I've not seen it (at least, not since I was old enough to remember), but I'm guessing that this might be Planet of the Apes. That fits the description, anyway.

I was going to go for Omega Man.

By John Wilkins (not verified) on 07 Aug 2006 #permalink

How about Alien?

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey?

By Nathan Lindstrom (not verified) on 07 Aug 2006 #permalink

My guess is Planet of the Apes; now where's my forty-one-and-a-half cents?! And for that matter, where are you going to find a ha'penny?

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!"

Congrats to Rob Knop and d for extracting the correct answer from the recesses of their overwrought brains.

[P.S. If I haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do, but if I haven't got a ha'penny then this contest is a total scam.]

Fair enough. The chuckle was worth it, because I have only ever heard Miss Piggy singing that song (courtesy of "John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together", just about the only Christmas album I listened to), so Frank Oz may very well be narrating all your entries in my head in the future.

It's strange, though, I've never actually seen that movie, and neither has my boyfriend. When I went to put it on our Blockbuster queue, it occured to me that I didn't know which one to add; 1968 or 2001?

d: the original 1968 Charlton Heston version. The 2001 version was kinda screwy, even though it did have excellent production values. The '68 version holds up surprisingly well.