From the Abyssal zone to the Wizard Of...

March 16, 2012 8:42 AM

The Sci-Fi Film Alphabet.

The artist, Stephen Wildish, has also done:

• The Horror Film Alphabet
• Bond Film Alphabet
• 1950s Film Alphabet
• 1960s Film Alphabet
• 1970s Film Alphabet
• 1980s Film Alphabet
• 1990s Film Alphabet
• 2000s Film Alphabet

[via]

posted by quin (34 comments total)

Well, that's odd, Vampirella is neither Sci-Fi nor starts with a "Z."

Sean who?
posted by griphus at 8:51 AM on March 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I would like to hereby register my displeasure at the artist's choice of Abyss-comma-The over the, I'm sorry, much more deserving Alien.
posted by fight or flight at 9:01 AM on March 16, 2012 [14 favorites]

Also, I would've swapped the lackluster "I, Robot" movie for another Will Smith vehicle, Independence Day.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:06 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

And we get the 2005 movie version of Marvin for H2G2? Pshaw!
posted by zamboni at 9:11 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think Blofeld is better known as Blofeld then Ernst. Its a bit forward to just assume first name terms isn't it?
posted by biffa at 9:12 AM on March 16, 2012

Not terribly impressed. If I didn't know, for instance, that he'd probably use Matrix for M, I would have no idea that the drawing is Neo. In fact, despite being a big SF fan and having watched many of the better movies, the only ones I recognize offhand are Godzilla, Matrix, and Tron. Oh, and I guess E is Empire Strikes Back.

Otherwise, it's largely a set of random images.
posted by Malor at 9:14 AM on March 16, 2012

I think that A is Avatar rather than The Abyss. I spent a good 30 seconds trying to figure out why Darth Vader was E. All in all I found it confusing and underwhelming.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:24 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hm. Going with "National Lampoon's Animal House" rather than just "Animal House" seems like cheating.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:28 AM on March 16, 2012

A - Abyss
B- ??
C -??
D - Dune?
E - Empire Strikes Back
F - ??
G - Godzilla
H - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I - I, Robot
J - Judge Dredd
K - King Kong
L - >>
M - ?? (I don't see how this is the Matrix...)
N - ??
O - ??
P - Planet of the Apes
Q - ??
R - ??
S - ?? (It looks like 2001...S for Space Odessey, Maybe?
T - Tron
U - Universal Soldier?
V - V (the miniseries)
W - War of the Worlds
X - X-men
Y - ??
Z - ?? (I can picture the scene/shot, but I can't remember the name of the movie.
posted by JonahBlack at 9:32 AM on March 16, 2012

The answers are here.
posted by griphus at 9:34 AM on March 16, 2012

Love the James Bond one.
posted by immlass at 9:44 AM on March 16, 2012

Not terribly impressed. If I didn't know, for instance, that he'd probably use Matrix for M, I would have no idea that the drawing is Neo.

He didn't use the Matrix for M.
posted by Flunkie at 9:54 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh dear. The Quiet Earth? Really. That movie is so horribly bad that it is comical. I mean I like that sort of thing, but it's not a good film. The only way that film seems decent is if you watch Hardware right before it.
posted by cashman at 9:57 AM on March 16, 2012

The answers are here.

'X' is The Matrix? That can't be right. Surely it's X-Men (more specifically, Cyclops).
posted by apatharch at 10:04 AM on March 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I didn't say they were the right answers.

Apparently.
posted by griphus at 10:09 AM on March 16, 2012

The trailer for the answer to Z is... something, that's for sure.
posted by Flunkie at 10:13 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

These answers look more accurate. I didn't think 'O' was Outland either.
posted by apatharch at 10:19 AM on March 16, 2012

J.- Judge Dregg by Danny Cannon.

It's just so right.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:19 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't believe V ever had a theatrical release, so that seems out of place. Surely V for Vendetta wouldn't have been that hard to do, what with the iconic Guy Fawkes mask?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:38 AM on March 16, 2012

The trailer for the answer to Z is... something, that's for sure.

And the trailer for an imaginary video game based on it is something else.
posted by cRamsay at 10:48 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Zardoz is a fantastic movie, and an even better Charades entry.
posted by alasdair at 11:46 AM on March 16, 2012

In fact, despite being a big SF fan and having watched many of the better movies, the only ones I recognize offhand are Godzilla, Matrix, and Tron. Oh, and I guess E is Empire Strikes Back.

You're a big SF fan and you've never seen Blade Runner?
posted by Aznable at 1:18 PM on March 16, 2012

the only ones I recognize offhand

No disrespect, but seriously dude? King Kong?
posted by Trochanter at 2:41 PM on March 16, 2012

Yeah, some massively uniconic images there. I, Robot in particular is one of the worst, in that it not only doesn't suggest that film particularly, but it doesn't intrinsically suggest _any_ SF film. It's just the shape of a dude, apparently ordinarily dressed.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:30 PM on March 16, 2012

George: I believe the image is from the movie poster. But still very forgettable, as you point out.
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:53 PM on March 16, 2012

Despite the facts that (1) it doesn't actually begin with F, (2) it's not really "sci-fi", and (3) it's not a movie, I couldn't stop thinking that F was Michael Jackson's Thriller.
posted by Flunkie at 4:07 PM on March 16, 2012

I totally thought "O" was Charleton Heston in "Omega Man".
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 4:37 PM on March 16, 2012

Missed an obvious chance for "Kickpuncher" with K.

They could have made it a pair -- P for Punchkicker
posted by Saxon Kane at 5:06 PM on March 16, 2012

I totally thought "O" was Charleton Heston in "Omega Man".

But that is what it is, isn't it? It sure looks like this to me.
posted by Flunkie at 5:06 PM on March 16, 2012

Alasdair: miming "Sean Connery leaping around in a red loincloth"?
posted by gusandrews at 8:09 PM on March 16, 2012

According to the artist:

The Abyss
Blade Runner
Cube
Dune
The Empire Strikes Back
The Fly
Godzilla
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy
I, Robot
Judge Dredd
King Kong
The Last Starfighter
Moon
Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Omega Man
Planet of the Apes
Quatermass 2
The Running Man
Solaris
Tron
Universal Soldier
V
War of the Worlds
X-Men
Yor, The Hunter from the Future
Zardoz
posted by tzikeh at 2:41 AM on March 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I knew it couldnt be The Quiet Earth.
posted by cashman at 6:23 AM on March 17, 2012

Oh, now I get the Abyss. That pictures was on the special edition cover which is why I didn't recognize it immediately (earlier editions had ABYSS with a pluging Y).

I think that Avatar still works, however (see the pony-tail/usb plug on the head? Yeah. I think I'm right). Such is the genius of James Cameron.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 10:10 AM on March 17, 2012

Pleasantly surprised to see Jean Claude Van Damme represented.
posted by womprat78 at 2:32 PM on March 18, 2012