Battletruck
Prior to gaining international acclaim in The Quiet Earth, Bruno Lawrence earned his sci-fi chops in 1982's Battletruck. A locally produced spin on Mad Max, the film sees the Central Otago plains masquerading as apocalyptic wastelands in a lawless fuel wars future.
Children of the Dog Star
Alien space probes; machinery with a mind of its own; a weathervane with mysterious powers, Children of the Dog Star hits multiple sci-fi marks. This episode of the classic girl-power teen TV series sees a secret discovered in a spooky tapu swamp. Almost as frightening is a shorts-clad cameo from future weatherman Jim Hickey.
Good Taste Made Bad Taste
Sci-fi meets splatter, in Peter Jackson's still-brilliant Bad Taste. Highlighting the DIY genius employed in the making of his first feature, this behind-the-scenes doco sees 25-year-old Jackson offering gems such as "If you've got to have a machete going into somebody's head, it's easier to have a real person's head with a fake machete, so you knock something together with a bit of cardboard and some ice cream sticks."
The Boy from Andromeda
On a holiday to Mt Tarawera, Jenny (the young Katrina Hobbs) finds an odd shard of metal, sparking all kinds of weirdness, and a fateful encounter with The Boy from Andromeda. This 90s kidult show was a local hit, and also went on to score significant international sales.
The Tem Show - Star Wars
Temuera Morrison explores the Star Wars Kiwi connection, attending a fan convention and sitting down for a chat with 'Uncle' George Lucas in this 2005 episode of The Tem Show. Rena Owen and Jay Laga'aia also weigh in on their experiences in a galaxy far, far away. It has been rumoured that Morrison will play Boba Fett in an upcoming installment of the anthology.
• You can see more classic Kiwi screen science fiction here.