Ten Favorite Science Fiction Films
“soft” sci-fi > “hard” sci-fi like most of the time IMHO, get that believability goin’ on ya bab-bee
That makes it “soft” sci-fi rather than “hard” sci-fi.
Holy Cheezus! ’Tis new to me.
ug and how could i forget DARK CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not really a big fan of Sci fi films but here are my top 10 at the moment
THX 1138
Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” & “Solyaris”
World on a Wire
Blade Runner
A Trip to the Moon
Metropolis
2001: A Space Odyssey
Alphaville
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Fave SF:
Aliens
Alien Cargo
The Andromeda Strain
Blade Runner
Dark City
Eve of Destruction
Quatermass and the Pit
Star Wars
The Thirteenth Floor
The Time Machine (G. Pal)
:At least two of those may be heavily influenced by seeng them at a very young age.:
Guilty Pleasures
Independence Day
Armageddon
Star Trek
Johnny Mnemonic
Replicant
Hon. Men.
Prometheus
:I realize Scott did not fulfill the usual need to make the first film self-contained, but I am still withholding judgement until the second half is done.:
The possibility of allegory does not elide the fact that Arthur C. Clark is a hard science fiction writer, nor the great attention to detail and modern scientific theory that Kubrick and Clarke discussed at great length. The script didn’t need it the same level of spoken scientific detail, unlike say, the “mumbo science” on Star Trek Next Generation.
I vote “hard” sci-fi.
Edit: I wanna add Phase IV, but cannot figure out what to take out.
1. Blade Runner
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. A Clockwork Orange.
4. Alien
5. Metropolis.
6 Forbidden Planet.
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8. District 9.
9. Sleeper.
10. Gattaca.
Also love:
Minority Report.
Westworld.
The Man Who Fell To Earth.
The Stepford Wives (1975)..
I forgot Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel). That would definitely crack my top ten.
Always meant to check out The Stepford WIves, ima add that shit to my que as I am currently combing the 70’s anyway :)
Also,
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars
4. Alien
5. District 9
6. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
7. Minority Report
8. Moon
9. Brazil
10. The Fountain
Honourable Mentions:
The Fly
Interstate 60
Back to the Future
Prometheus
Source Code
Aliens
E.T.
12 Monkeys
K-PAX
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Gattaca
Brazil
Akira
2001: A Space Odyssey
John Carpenter’s The Thing
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Stalker
Solaris
Stars Wars original trilogy
Blade Runner
Alien
Others:
Metropolis
Soderbergh’s Solaris remake
THX-1138
Aliens
The Iron Giant
12 Monkeys
Cronenberg’s The Fly
A Clockwork Orange
RoboCop
Verhoeven’s Total Recall and Starship Troopers
Terminator and T:2
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
E.T.
They Live!
Attack the Block
Repo Man
The Day the Earth Stood Still (original, obviously)
Them!
Have Not Seen but Keep Meaning To See:
Silent Running
Dark City
Alphaville
Primer
World on a Wire
The Fountain
A Boy and His Dog
2001: A Space Odyssey
Solaris
World on a Wire
Metropolis
Blade Runner
Alien
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Invaders from Mars
Planet of the Apes
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 & 1978)
+
Ishirō Honda flicks
The Incredible Shrinking Man
A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky)
Zardoz (John Boorman)
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)
Dune (David Lynch)
Explorers (Joe Dante)
The Heart of the World (Guy Maddin)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg)
Big Man Japan (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
The films are listed chronologically, not preferentially. I’ve included only one film per author. I haven’t let myself be limited by the length of the film or anyone’s conception of the genre other than my own. [I’m tempted to remove Explorers (Joe Dante) from the list above and replace it with The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock) but I think of the latter mentioned as more of a Horror than a Science Fiction film.] I would also like to mention:
Aelita (Yakov Protazanov)
Metropolis (Fritz Lang)
King Kong (Merian C. Cooper)
Godzilla (Ishirō Honda)
Daikyojū Gappa (Haruyasu Noguchi)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicolas Roeg)
Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper)
Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven)
eXistenZ (David Cronenberg)
Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter)
One should never feel guilty about one’s pleasures.
There hasn’t been much success in movies with ‘hard’ scifi. Maybe Moon. Scifi tends to just mean ‘fantasy that takes place in the future.’. I’d love to see a movie about humans trying to survive after the Stelliferous era, when just about all the stars in the universe are dead and energy sources are gradually and permanently drying up.
10 I like (in no particular order)
Gattaca
Alien
Aliens
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
The Time Machine (1960 version)
12 Monkeys
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Moon
Fahrenheit 451
My top would be:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Blade Runner
3. The Empire Strikes Back
4. Star Wars: A New Hope
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
6. Alien
7. Children Of Men
8. Primer
9. Cube
10. 12 Monkeys
Also other greats would be:
War Of The Worlds (Speilberg)
E.T.
Back To The Future
Star Trek The Motion Picture
Star Trek The Wrath Of Khan
Minority Report
Moon
Source Code
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Stalker
District 9
Tron
The Quiet Earth
We are the purpose of the cube! A man, a woman….
Planet of the Apes
2001
Blade Runner
A Clockwork Orange
La Jetee
12 Monkeys
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Back to the Future
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Black Hole
My current top ten:
Alien
2001: Space Odyssey
Andrey Tarkovsky’s Solaris
Blade Runner
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Metropolis
The Thing (1982)
The Terminator
Back To The Future
The Fly
1) Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
2) On the Silver Globe
3) Tron
4) Akira
5) Macross Plus
6) Alien
7) The Illustrated Man
8) Forbidden Planet
9) Stargate
10) The Abyss
1. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (Nicolas Roeg, 1976)
3. METROPOLIS (Fritz Lang, 1927)
4. BLADE RUNNER (Ridley Scott, 1982)
5. AVATAR (James Cameron, 2009)
6. TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989)
7. ALIEN (Ridley Scott, 1979)
8. GODZILLA (Ishiro Honda, 1954)
9. THEY LIVE (John Carpenter, 1988)
10. DISTRICT 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009)
So many films overlap on these fine lists, that I see little value in repeating the litany of the saints…2001, Balde Runner, Clockwork Orange, Solaris. etc.
So here is a list of my favorite fun science fiction movies that i enjoyed on TV as a kid (and saw a few in the theater). Not much “hard” science in any of these, but all filled my mind with wonder and were ridiculously entertaining once upon a time. Some are obscure, most will be familiar to this crowd.
No order to any of these…
It Came From Beneath the Sea
Logan’s Run
Aliens
War of the Worlds (George Pal’s version)
When Worlds Collide
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Robocop
John Carpenter’s The Thing
The Thing From Another World
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel and the Kaufman remake)
Metropolis
Things to Come
Saturn 3 (you haven’t lived until you hear Harvey Keitel dubbed with a British accent)
In no particular order:
A Trip to the Moon (Melies)
Incredible Shrinking Man (Arnold)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel)
Thing from Another World (Nyby….and let’s be honest, Hawks)
Alphaville (Godard)
La Jetee (Marker)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Miyazaki)
2001 (Kubrick)
The Invisble Man (Whale)
Open Your Eyes (Amenabar)
and in the uncategorizable sort of sci fi list:
2046 (Wong Kar Wai)
Trouble Every Day (Denis)
Cowards Bend the Knee (Madin)
Cube (Nitali)
Gandahar
Fantastic Planet
Time Masters
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Moon
Solaris (1972)
Alien
Tron
Blade Runner
Barbarella
René Laloux fanboy, reporting in.
Jirin
@Axelumog
I think the HAL segment works very well as scifi, but the moon segment and the editing orgy part make it so it’s hard to get a satisfying experience without only viewing it as an allegorical commentary on the power of the media and the myth of progress.