Won’t Get April Fooled Again: Who’s Next on the Funniest Badass Sci Fi Movies List?

Posted On April 1, 2020

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Greetings. Safety and sanity to all. No pranks, but I’ve gathered a shitload of fools. I’m not sure what The Who has to do with this, but since they’re involved, here’s their best tune.

Won’t Get Fooled Again- The Who- Who’s Next (1971)

Back To Business

I’ve put together a few lists for you guys. Some are easy (Badass Sci Fi in the 80s). Some are a little harder (Badass Sci Fi Horror). This one (Badass Sci Fi Comedy) was a son of a bitch.

As you know, I like a little humor thrown into my Sci Fi (along with gore, foul language, and nudity). Sure, Aliens, Starship Trooper, Re-Animator, and Attack the Block have more than adequate humor quotients, but comedy is at most a secondary classification for each.

I was looking for movies that had comedy as their main classification, or at least 1-A along with sci fi. It’s a short list to begin with. You throw in Badass Sci Fi’s affinity for R+ rated cinema, and it becomes nearly impossible to compile a representative list.

So, what I ended up with is a list broken down into two sections; No-Brainers and I Guess I Can Bend The Rules For You. Let’s see what I ended up with.

NO-BRAINERS

Idiocracy (2006)

Mike ‘Nostradamus’ Judge (Office Space, Beavis & Butt-Head, King of the Hill) wrote and directed this brilliant film. Fox largely swept it under the rug upon its release (probably because the movie openly satirizes Fox repeatedly).

As a whole, Idiocracy is a hilariously vicious satire, taking shots at everything from reality TV to the healthcare system. It’s more relevant now than ever.

The game cast includes Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews as President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. Plus, it contains some of the most hilarious matte paintings in film history.

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The World’s End (2013)

The World’s End is the third scoop (along with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) in writer-director Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Its flavor is mint chocolate chip (representing sci fi), whereas Shaun of the Dead‘s flavor is strawberry (representing horror), and Hot Fuzz‘ is original blue Cornetto (representing the buddy cop genre).

Several actors appear in all three films, including; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Martin Freeman. The World’s End is one of the few science fiction movies in the last decade that calls for multiple viewings.

The summer of 2013 produced a Twin Film incident. That is, two films with very similar themes or titles were released at the same time. Other famous Twin Films are Armageddon and Deep Impact (1998), Mission to Mars and Red Planet (2000), and Dante’s Peak and Volcano (1997).

In this case, The World’s End‘s twin was This is the End, the highly entertaining Seth Rogen-Evan Goldberg-James Franco ego-fest. Having loved Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I was looking forward to The World’s End more, but prior to the release of either, I often got them confused. You throw in Rapture-Palooza, and you got yourself the ultra-rare Triplet Film phenomenon.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

I know what you’re saying, and you’re right. This is a PG-13 movie. I’m already bending the rules. Well, I’m telling you right now, this movie is one nipple away from an R rating.

In fact, I spliced a bunch of nipples and assorted genitalia into the version in my mind, à la Tyler Durden. That version’s definitely R. I mean, look at the GIF! That’s a full decapitation with an exposed stump. I think one of the other reasons it’s not R is because all the violence is just so comical.

Anyway, it’s a great movie. The effects are fantastic considering the budget and year it was made, and it’s got an endearing, Troma vibe to it.

Speaking of Troma…

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

I’m not sure if The Toxic Avenger is Badass Sci Fi. I mean, it does dabble with speculative fiction by advancing a hypothesis about what happens to a person when when they get covered in toxic waste.

Robocop did it, right? In fact, representations of what someone looks like when exposed to catastrophic amounts of toxic waste was remarkably consistent in the 80s.

The Toxic Avenger is hilarious, stuffed to the gills with over-the-top gore, and may or may not be science fiction, horror, or a superhero movie. Fuck it. Congratulations Toxie and Lloyd Kaufman (co-founder of Troma Entertainment), you are hereby added to the pantheon of Badass Sci Fi.

The Man With Two Brains (1983)

This is Steve Martin and Carl Reiner in their prime. But I still get a kick out of the fact this movie came out two years before Re-Animator, and there’s Jeffrey fucking Combs, playing a doctor.

Repo Man (1984)

This feisty little film easily takes its place alongside The Return of the Living Dead and Class of 1984 as true punk rock sci fi pioneers. Take a look at the soundtrack–

Now, I never fully committed to the puck scene, but I appreciate it and absorb vicarious pleasure whenever possible. I got a crash course in the mid 80s, and still attend a show here and there with my punk rock buddy RJT.

It’s funny, because I’ve been going through a Fear phase, and Fear’s front man, Lee Ving, was actually considered for the the role of Bud. Harry Dean Stanton got the role because Mr. Ving’s shit was too hardcore.

I GUESS I CAN BEND THE RULES FOR YOU

Shit, I put all the movies in the first category.

Ghostbusters (1984)

How do I sum up my feelings for dear old Ghostbusters. I don’t know what to say. Hmm, how about this?

Ghostbusters is the funniest science fiction movie of all time. Period.

When it first came out, I was skeptical. I remember thinking it was going to be another cheap, cheesy SNL sketch drawn out to feature length. But when I saw it…

Ghostbusters is the funniest science fiction movie of all time! Exclamation point!

Mystery Science Theater- Space Mutiny (1997)

What list of humorous sci fi movies would be complete without at least one entry from MST3K? Well, the episode to include is a no-brainer. Not the up above no-brainer, but the right here no-brainer.

MST3K 820- Space Mutiny

I don’t think I’m alone in my opinion that this one of the top five episodes in show history, and definitely the most referenced. Plus, it’s the only one I have on DVD, which is fine, because it’s so fucking hilarious.

From the railing kills to you already know.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time, don’t bother me. I’m being a fool.