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  1. #1
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    Top 10, sci fi movies

    The science fiction genre is quite possibly the most popular genre ever, with only fantasy being able to rival it. The reason is that the chance for imagination and escapism in these films is not found anywhere else. You're not likely to find many true stories where a group of people are forced to fight off an Alien army, well I did see one but I'm still not convinced it really happened, and so people can enjoy these films for the escapism they offer. Yet it's often forgotten that the difference between science fiction and fantasy goes beyond which one uses magic and which one uses laser guns. A true science fiction movie has it's grounding in science, and new technology is explained to the audience. It's also used most frequently as a means to an end in raising questions of relevance to us now. That's why common favorites, such as Star Wars and X-Men have not made my list (though Star Wars wouldn't anyway) because they are fantasy, and that's a different list altogether. (I love being pedantic.)

    10: Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)

    Steven Spielberg's take on a concept designed by Stanley Kubrick is a beautiful, touching movie, about a young Robot that's programmed to love, but, on witnessing what evil men are capable of, learns to hate. It's a far darker movie than spielberg usually likes to make, and he's remained faithful to Kubrick's visual style, not least in the shocking flesh fair sequence. Yet it's still very much a Spielberg movie, especially in the way he's once again shown his flair for directing children with what should have been an award winning performance from Osment.

    My review

    09: Gattaca (1997)

    Andrew Niccol has both written, and directed, a superb film that will appeal to those who like their sci fi a little more thoughtful than little green men and laser guns. It tells the story of a future where everything about you, from the job you will do to what class of society you will live in, is decided at birth. A slow, thoughtful script and wonderfully subtle performances from it's 3 leads makes Gattaca work.

    08: Andromeda Strain, The (1971)

    Mankind is a species with a fixation on exploration. We've explored nearly everything on the surface of our own planet, which leaves 2 options, down into the oceans or up into space. With bacteria having been discovered on space rocks, we already know that there are extra terrestrial virus's out there, which leaves the terrifying prospect that we could one day bring back a disease that is so Alien to us we wont be able to stop it. This was the concept of Michael Crichton's gripping novel, and the film feels just as scarily authentic. Good acting, and a stark visual style; that uses detailed set designs makes the film feel all the more real.

    07: A Clockwork Orange(1971)

    Stanley Kubricks A Clockwork Orange was a film the director pulled, as he wasn't happy with the outcome. Yet in my opinion it is his best, most relevant film to date. Set in the near future, it tells of a society where the youths have grown bored with their mundane lives, and after being desensitized to violence relieve their boredom through rape and murder. The controversial first section feels just as relevant now as it would have in the 80's, with that future appearing more likely than ever. The second half works as both a wonderful satire on governmental control, and an amazing philosophy into the nature of good and bad. Asking whether, without free will, is a person still good because he's forced to do good things? A very relevant and thoughtful point, for anyone to consider, especially when interested in religion.

    06: Akira (1988)

    Akira is a film that has met with a lot of mixed reactions. Some love it, others hate what they consider to be a convoluted mess of a story. Yet Akira is a masterpiece. It's animation revolutionized the genre back in 88, though it is showing it's age now. What hasn't aged though is its story that works as an action movie, a thriller and a horror all in one well written cautionary tale of letting our weapons go out of control, ala the nuclear bomb. In it Tokyo is destroyed in an unknown explosion, and years later the remains of the city are a decaying mess, teeming with bars and biker gangs. Religious sects believe that the explosion was the result of their new god Akira, and that he will return to finish the job, but when a young biker named Tetsuo is experimented on by the governments, he begins to develop strange psychic powers. However these powers drive him insane, and he soon becomes too powerful for the governments to control.

    05: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

    Opinion is divided over which of the Terminator films is better, but for me personally, it will always be the second. Terminator 2 is everything a sequel should be, bigger and better, but still develop the themes of the first film. Terminator 2 though is no mere remake of the first film, as too many people claim, but rather it expands the story, takes Sarah and turns her into a human Terminator, examines the difference between humans and machines, and makes an in depth examination on fate. Fans of the Matrix should also note that the majority of it's themes on fate and belief were dealt with in the Terminator series first. Shame the second sequel has so badly damaged the series timeline though.


    04: Metropolis (2001)

    Katsuhiro Ôtomo once again worked on the screenplay for an anime classic. That film, Metropolis, based on the Manga by Osamu Tezuka is one of the most visually accomplished films that I've ever seen. Based very loosely on the classic silent movie, it sees a private detective taking his young nephew Kenichi to the city of Metropolis, no Superman in site (cheap joke alert), where Robots and Humans are living violently by each others side. In the depths of the city Kenichi meets and falls in love with a young girl named Tima, but what he doesn't realize is that she's a robot, designed to be more human than any other Robot. Some amazing shots, including one where Tima stands over the city with the light catching her and making her look like an angel, and a story that examines the importance of emotions make Metropolis a classic.

    03: Blade Runner (1982)

    Based on the Philip K Dick novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep" (thankfully the scriptwriters chose a better name) Blade Runner is still the best Dystopia movie I've ever seen. In it Harrison Ford plays a Blade Runner (a detective hired to hunt down Replicants (androids) on Earth) named Deckard who is called out of Retirement when a group of Replicants hijack a ship. Scott's film is dark, bleak and depressing, in fact it's everything a science fiction movie should be. Choose your version carefully though, the original has a voice over that I loved, it adds to the films film noir atmosphere, but the Directors Cut has the original bleak ending that suits the film perfectly. Still awaiting the definitive edition though.

    02: Kokaku kidotai (1995) Ghost In The Shell

    Mamoru Oshii's Ghost In the Shell is, put simply, the greatest animated film in existence. Ghost In The Shell is the film that, more than any other, influenced the Wachowski's on The Matrix. Ghost In The Shell does it differently though. It really does get into your head, and makes an in depth exploration of what the difference is between real and false. It's set in a cyberpunk future where people are able to upgrade their bodies mechanically, some to the extent that they are more machine than human. The only thing that really separates the humans from the machines is our Ghost, or the part of our brain that enables us to feel emotion, remember and learn. The police are in the middle of an investigation into a computer hacker going by the name, Puppet Master, a hacker so good that he is able to hack into the very Ghost of people and make them do and think what he likes. However the Revelation as to what The Puppet Master is, will force them to question everything they have always believed, as well as call into question the true reality of the characters themselves. It's a complex story with a thoughtful script and excellent voice acting.

    01: Alien (1979)

    Finally we reach the number 1 spot, the greatest science fiction film ever. Yet for my number 1 spot I haven't chosen a film with a complex, or even philosophical plot. I have rather picked a film that defines the term, simple but effective. Ridley Scott's seminal chiller Alien is one of the scariest films in existence. It's story is a simple, crew on ship picked off one by one by an Alien killing machine, but it's style is unmatched. The unnerving cinematography, believable performances and H.R.Giger's vision of primitive terror have gone unmatched for nearly 30 years.

    My review
    Last edited by carl; 11-18-2003 at 05:15 PM.

  2. #2
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    great choices (as far as i've seen them ), although i don't agree with "batman returns". i like the film, but to me it's not sci-fi, i would put in under fantasy like "x-men".
    i would replace it with "contact", iirc the first true sci-fi film i ever saw in a theater
    i'd also replace "a.i." with "minority report", to stick with spielberg. your description of a.i. is great and i somehow agree, but the ending ruined it for me. i know that kubrick also wanted this ending and it's not an invention of spielberg, but that doesn't change my opinion

    my list:
    1. alien
    2. strange days
    3. being john malkovich (i consider this sci-fi)
    4. t2
    5. contact
    6. donnie darko (see 3. )
    7. abre los ojos/vanilla sky
    8. minority report
    9. the matrix
    10. starship troopers (although more action/war than sci-fi)
    Last edited by streetpreacher; 11-18-2003 at 05:24 PM.
    somebody told me you have a boyfriend who looks like a girldfriend that i had in february of last year the killers

  3. #3
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    Hmm my list is a bit different.

    1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
    2. The Matrix
    3. Back To The Future
    4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
    5. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
    6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
    7. Strange Days
    8. Contact
    9. Starship Troopers
    10. Robocop
    11. Blade Runner [honorary mention]

    I don't care for Blade Runner much myself, but it's such an influential movie, and so many other movies and styles resulted from this film, I had to add it to the list.
    A.I. is good but not top 10 worthy in my opinion, just not very influential.
    Strange days is just such an underrated movie, and I don't think very many people saw it... if you're a fan of sci-fi movies, SEE THIS FILM!
    Ah crap forgot about Donnie Darko... well... it'd be in my top 15.
    Last edited by Shrubz; 11-18-2003 at 05:33 PM.

  4. #4
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    Batman is touch and go, it is scientificqally plausible so I consider it sci fi, however I confess it still feels fantasy, but then I realizes I'd missed one so Batman went anyway.

    Minority Report, no way. Had a much lighter ending than A.I and so many plot holes it was unbelievable. I loved A.I through and through, and the ending worked in what the film was. A fairy tale told by the last remaining robots.

  5. #5
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    Originally posted by Mark Strube
    Hmm my list is a bit different.

    1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
    2. The Matrix
    3. Back To The Future
    4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
    5. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
    6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
    7. Strange Days
    8. Contact
    9. Starship Troopers
    10. Robocop
    11. Blade Runner [honorary mention]

    I don't care for Blade Runner much myself, but it's such an influential movie, and so many other movies and styles resulted from this film, I had to add it to the list.
    A.I. is good but not top 10 worthy in my opinion, just not very influential.
    Strange days is just such an underrated movie, and I don't think very many people saw it... if you're a fan of sci-fi movies, SEE THIS FILM!
    Ah crap forgot about Donnie Darko... well... it'd be in my top 15.
    Fine, fine, but my advice would be, if a film bores you then it's not one of your top 10. Oterwise everybody would put the same list and it would all be very very boring. Besides which, you have mentioned both The Matrix and Contact, which have not had nearly enough time to make a lasting impact, with Bullet Time already starting to bore people.
    Last edited by Shrubz; 11-18-2003 at 05:34 PM.

  6. #6
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    Well, that's why I made it to #11.

  7. #7
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    Originally posted by Mark Strube

    Strange days is just such an underrated movie, and I don't think very many people saw it... if you're a fan of sci-fi movies, SEE THIS FILM!
    waaaayyy underrated
    although i don't know why. the premise is good, the trailer is great and it's produced by james cameron. i have no idea why this bombed so heavy when it was released.
    i hope fox will finally release a special edition of it someday. once there were rumors on the net, that it will be a 5 star edition, but that was at a time when they also wanted to re-release true lies

  8. #8
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    My favorite sci-fi sub-genre is cyberpunk so...

    1. Virtuosity
    2. The Matrix
    3. The Fifth Element
    4. Hackers (All that hacking they did may have looked cool but it was all fake so it's fiction. Coupled with computers and the like it's science fiction)
    5. Strange Days
    6. Blade Runner
    7. Dark City
    8. Predator (Scwarznegger one)
    9. Johnny Mnemonic
    10. Minority Report

  9. #9
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    Wow, this is really hard so I'll just use my top 20 sci fi movies list

    1. Aliens (1986)
    2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
    3. Matrix, The (1999)
    4. Equilibrium (2002)
    5. Alien
    6. Dune
    7. I don't know and this order really sucks

  10. #10
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    OK, that's too many times. So many people listing The Matrix above Alien. I think I just died.

  11. #11
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    Thank god someone listed Dark City, I was about to have a heart attack.

    I love all that have been listed... but we must add somewhere.

    The Adventures of Buckarro Banzai: Across the Eight Dimension!


    Laugh while you can, monkeyboy!
    I'm not in denial, I'm just highly selective about the reality I choose to accept.

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