The best SF films engage the mind, not the eye.
Francisco the best SF has and can do both, imo.
Fantastic Planet was terrific !
Solyaris
Contact
Alien
Aliens
Robocop
A Clockwork Orange
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Metropolis
2001
T2
Blade Runner
The Thing
The Terminator
Stalker
Planet of the Apes
Brazil
E.T
Akira
The Matrix
…could go on for hours.
“Moon” (Duncan Jones) is by far one of the best recent sci-fi films.
Jones also directed the more conventional “Source Code”
No love for Total Recall ?
Rekall! Rekall! Rekall!
I love Total Recall. It is a good sci-fi film.
1. Children Of Men
2. Blade Runner
3. The Terminator 2
4. Alien
5. Akira
6. The Matrix
7. Metropolis
8. 12 Monkeys
9. Moon
10. District 9
There a lot more great sci-fi movies like 2048, Total Recall, The Thing, Ghost In The Shell, Stars Wars and more. With most sci-fi movies the best ones are about a world gone wrong or a government of some kind trying to control or inslave it’s people.
The problem here as with horror, is that there are the movies that are serious, thought-provoking works and the movies that are generically pleasing and prototypes for the genre. But the former category is much more compelling to me and I just don’t think that many directors make serious sci-fi films as evidenced by everyone mentioning the same handful and then cherry picking other films that vaguely fit here and there.
Pierre
@Roger – nice mention of fantastic planet. This is a great film.