Top Ten SF Films

[iansales]

Looks like this topic's not been covered for a while - and since I posted on this very subject on another forum - I thought it might be worthwhile rejuvenating it. That's science fiction films, by the way. No fantasy. Otherwise Lord of the Rings would appear in everyone's top ten :-)

So, favourite ten science fiction films. Here's my list, in no particular order...

Dune, dir. David Lynch
It made a bit of a mess of the book, but the production design still definitively evokes the Duniverse for me. Tthe various versions knocking about give pointers to what Lynch was trying to achieve, and how good it could have been. Mind you, I still think it's a crying shame Jodorowsky never got to make his version...

Brazil, dir. Terry Gilliam
Orwell's 1984 might have been written as a cautionary tale, but it should have been a black comedy. But never mind, Gilliam did it for us anyway.

Until the End of the World, dir. Wim wenders
Probably the best presentation of a near-future world ever committed to celluloid - even if the film does feel a little like two stories badly welded together.

Alien, dir. Ridley Scott
The first and best of the franchise. It still gives me a fright when the alien attacks Dallas in the air-duct. Not to mention the time my cat, on my lap at the time, decided to cough up a furball at the exact moment the chestburster starts eating its way out of John Hurt...

Delicatessen, dir. Jeunet & Caro
Yet more proof that dystopias should be black comedies. It's the only way to make them both palatable and entertaining.

Solaris, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
The fact that I will happily rewatch a 3-hour Russian-language film says just about all that needs to be said of this film.

Star Trek: the Motion Picture, dir. Robert wise
The most outright science-fictional films of the franchise (possibly because a sf author, Alan Dean Foster, provided the plot), and not an extended television episode as almost all the others seem to be.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, dir. Kerry Conran
Not only did the Conrans superbly evoke the look of pulp sf in their production design, but they even faithfully paid homage to the story-telling techniques of that period. Which is probably why it bombed at the box-office.

The Thing, dir. John Carpenter
It's gruesome and gory, and it's the best thing Carpenter has ever done.

Starship Troopers, dir. Paul Verhoeven
Doogie Howser in a Gestapo greatcoat! What more do you need to know? And the film continues to entertain me - when I see the reactions to it of many Heinlein fans...

[pyan]

Woo, cat among the pigeons time!

Star Wars - the original 1977 film, still one of the best.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - Klaatu barada nicto!

Alien (1979) and:

Aliens (1986) - Both excellent, in totally different ways.

Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986) The best of the ST films.

Blade Runner (1982) - will the future really look like this?

The Incredibles (2004) - Best superhero action by a mile!

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - even today , the SFX stand up.

Tron (1982) - Almost forgotten now, but the computer graphics amazed me at the time!

Men in Black (1997) - just so much fun.

[tangaloomababe]

iansales: I would have to disagree on Alien I personally liked Aliens better (the second one) It was scarier. I watched the original Alien a little whiel ago and felt it dragged to much.
Love Blade Runner I could watch this movie over and over.

2001: A Space Odyssey simply because it just leaves that lasting impression oh and the music.

The Quiet Earth: Ok so its not your convential s/f movie but I would put it in that catagory and for the same reasons as 2001.

Star Wars- The first one I remember going to the cinema and watching this, the beginning of things to come, it just blew me away and the smoothy silk voice of Alec Guiness to boot.

Planet of the Apes: Again the first one with Charlton Heston, and again it was one of those movies you just never forget, plus it made so interesting statements about the human race.

Starship Troopers: Although I reaaly love this movie I was never sure if I should take it seriously or not.

Serenity: For no other reason than I couldnt get enough of Firefly so this prolongued the experience and I love that spaceship.

[The Ace]

I'll just stick with one;

THE FORBIDDEN PLANET.

[Connavar]

Star Wars - a great movie, the only SW i think is really great.

The Terminator 2 - Best action,robot SF i have seen. Very cool.

Alien - Ripley and the alien monsters are a good combo.

Serenity - Firefly is my fav SF show after Stargate so of course i loved this movie.

Planet of the Apes - The first one is very good. The hole idea of the apes and humans was very interesting. Too bad the other movies was garbage.

Ghost In The Shell - Very good with interesting versions of Cyborgs.

Robocop - I liked the hole Robot Cop and how he was. What i can say not my fault hollywood has making mostly action oriented in the last decade

Matrix - I liked the hole machine vs humans idea.

Men in Black - the many different aliens and the galactic police force thing. Plus it was very funny too.

Minority Report - The hole stop crime before it happens was interesting.


Sadly i havent seen the old great SF movies people hail. Like Forbidden Planet,2001,Clock Orange etc

Im hoping to watch those and hope i like them. Since hollywood arent popping good SF these days i have to go back to the past

[Tabasco]

Originally Posted by The Ace

I'll just stick with one;

Barbarella!

[Steve Jordan]

Metropolis - the one that started it all!

Solaris - either version!... one of the most thoughtful and fantastic

2001: A Space Odyssey - Kubrick's art + Clarke's intelligence

Soylent Green - I was "scared straight"

Blade Runner - who's the robot, and who's the human?...

Ghost in the Shell - robot, human... what's the difference?

Star Wars (Episode IV) - raw fun on celluloid

Gattaka - dna doesn't make the man

The Andromeda Strain - man vs microbe... we were sooo lucky

Akira - humans are the "ultimate weapons"

[iansales]

There seem to be a few films turning up on a lot of lists :-) But there are also those which only seem to appear on one list.

Btw, Steve, I believe it was George Méliès Le Voyage dans la Lune which "started it all".

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by iansales

There seem to be a few films turning up on a lot of lists :-) But there are also those which only seem to appear on one list.

Btw, Steve, I believe it was George Méliès Le Voyage dans la Lune which "started it all".

Depends on how you look at it. I see Le Voyage dans la Lune as a piece which was clearly a light-hearted expression on film (the Star Wars of its day, perhaps), but ultimately forgettable beside Méliès' other films, and outside of its early novelty.

Metropolis, on the other hand, stands as the very prototype of the science fiction movie, pioneering cinematic and storytelling techniques that are used in SF to this day, including every one of the top 10 movies in my list. (My full description of Metropolis is here, for anyone interested.)

Sure, just my opinion.

As far as the lists... hey, not everyone wants, or gets, the same things out of SF. So you wouldn't expect everyone's lists to be basically the same, would you?

[iansales]

Um, I'll have to watch Metropolis again one day. I have it on DVD somewhere. From what I remember of it (and it's been many years since I last saw it), it and Spione were very similar.

On the other hand... I'm not sure what I'd pick as the first "true" science fiction film.

And the lists... Actually, I was hoping for a little more variety :-)

[andrew.v.spencer]

In no particular order:

1. Blade Runner. Those cityscapes, that music, the uncertainty.
2. Alien. Brilliant, desolate and terrifying.
3. Aliens. "Affirmative."
4. Forbidden planet. Terrifying monster, great sounds, ideas and special effects.
5. Matrix.
6. Terminator.
7. The incredible shrinking man.
8. The Thing.
9. Dark Star
10. Star Wars

Honourable mentions:

Them. Classic B movie giant ants.
Close Encounters.
Donnie Darko.
T2.
Solaris
Starship Troopers
Silent Running
Planet of the Apes

[Tillane]

In no particular order (just to be different):

Blade Runner - atmospheric, beautiful, mournful. Brilliant.
The Fifth Element - Probably the ultimate in guilty filmic pleasures.
Casshern - Fight scenes and visuals that knock The Matrix into a cocked hat.
Ghost in The Shell - Probably the best SF anime ever.
Metropolis - still stunning; Fritz Lang's vision of the future is breathtaking.
Brazil - Terry Gilliam is a genius - and the ending still gives me chills.
The City of Lost Children - Jeunet's masterpiece of oddness.
2001 - visually stunning, surprisingly optimistic vision of the...erm...future.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - so, so creepy.
A Clockwork Orange - shocking, but brilliant.

[that old guy]

Can't decide on the order, sorry:

The Empire Strikes Back
A.I.
The Matrix (first one only!)
Bladerunner
Terminator 2
Clockwork Orange
2001
Minority Report
Equilibrium
Altered States (though this may veer to horror)

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by iansales

And the lists... Actually, I was hoping for a little more variety :-)

Well, for a top 10 list, you've already got (by my count) 45 individual movies, everything from Barbarella to Donny Darko! Not bad variety by me.

[iansales]

True. There are a lot of films mentioned only once. But the old favourites are leading the pack... Blade Runner, Star Wars: A New Hope, 2001: A Space Odyssey... I'm surprised that Alien is leading Aliens, as it's usually the other way around.