Best geek movies of 2012

Prometheus

Yes, Prometheus isn’t as good as Alien, to which it’s a sort of precursor, and the characters are incredibly annoying, but we’re talking geek films here, and Ridley Scott’s sci-fi tale is suitably geeky with all its exploration of first contact, the origins of humanity and so on. Also beautifully shot, as you’d expect from Scott.

Indie Game: The Movie

The only documentary on our list, this follows developers of independent videogames, peeking behind the scenes at a process that, even if you’re an avid gamer, you probably don’t think about that much. Make no mistake: the life of a developer, particularly in the indie scene, is not one of glamour and messing about, but back-breaking technical work that has a heavy toll on one’s life – and that’s all on show here.

Iron Sky

Delightfully bonkers, Iron Sky concerns a group of spacefaring Nazis that, in the final days of World War II, fled to the dark side of the Moon. In 2018, having built a space armada, they return to Earth to fight once more. Don’t rent this Finnish film expecting anything other that entertaining silliness, and you won’t be disappointed.

Dredd

Banishing memories of the Sylvester Stallone debacle in which Judge Dredd showed his face (really, Sly?), this one snuck in under the radar, proving far more faithful to 2000AD’s vision of the USA’s dark future. Gritty, brutal and fully deserving of its 18 rating, it shows Dredd as the comic books intended him to be – a deadpan psychopath – while giving rookie Judge Anderson the character arc necessary to pull in “normal” viewers. Writer Alex Garland, who previously brought us The Beach, 28 Days Later and Sunshine, was a fine choice.

The Hobbit

OK, so we know The Hobbit isn’t out yet, and therefore we can’t tell you with 100 percent certainty if it’s actually good or not – but come on, this is Peter Jackson getting the old gang back together to create the first part of what promises to be another epic fantasy trilogy. From a technical standpoint, we also can’t wait to see what The Hobbit’s 48fps frame rate – double that of normal films and a first for a major movie – looks like.

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