Eve Online Winners
The recent Eve Online competition was our most popular event ever, with hundreds of entries from all across the globe. Thanks to everyone who contributed. The competition is now closed, and the winners are detailed below.
David Gallant from Texas suggests Ice Pirates, and he's in alignment with about a dozen other Ice Pirates entries. Why all the Ice Pirates love, RPS readers? David says: "Why you ask? It was an ecological thriller about pirates who steal water, as the most precious resource. Where else can you see an actual space Possum or space herpes?"
Will Pomes from Illinois wrote us an essay about Primer, saying things like: "the setting of the story is one of the best things about the movie: its banality makes it altogether believable, and this makes it so much more disturbing. When you are done watching the movie for the first time, you walk away completely confused, but feeling like you have just seen something amazing, that you don't fully comprehend." Good work, Will.
The oddly-named Philihp Busby from Raleigh, NC suggests Gattaca, and wins for his brave argument: "It would have done better in the box offices, had it not been released during the time of Independence Day and Men In Black; where people thought Scifi had to have space ships, and either be comedy or action in disguise. It's pretty much a requirement that Science Fiction be prophetic, and Gattaca tries to be that and nothing more. These days people are understanding Scifi as something more, with shows like Battlestar Galactica, but honestly Gattaca laid the groundwork for modern scifi blockbuster films. Also, how else are you going to get a scene with Uma Therman having sex shown in a high school biology classroom?" Truth, Philihp. The correct argument for Gattaca, however, is that the end sees them all boarding rocketships wearing sharp suit-and-tie get-ups while Jude Law burns in an incinerator. That's good sci-fi.
Peter Bortas from Linkoping in Sweden says the best film is Plan 9 From Outer Space. He's right only by being absolutely wrong, as he explains: "The best science fiction film is Plan 9 from Outer Space. It is so good because it establishes a baseline for further comparison. It's obviously stinkingly bad, but in such a blatant way that "worse that Plan 9" and "at least it's not as bad as Plan 9" are excellent tools when describing the latest film from Mr Boll or the first episode of Dollhouse."
Romano Schade from Berlin wins for arguing that Serenity is the best sci-fi film because of its genesis via huge community support, as well as just being brutal and brilliant.
Finally, SW Davies from Wales just says what's on his mind: "I'd say that my favourite Science Fiction film would have to be Weird Science, because it taught me all I needed to know about girls." Sage advice, indeed.
(And having done a rough count of the votes, the favourite RPS film seems to be a tie between Bladerunner, The Fifth Element, Serenity, and Ice Pirates. Who knew?)