Top Twenty Sci-Fi Movies

Well, you're just looking for a geek fight here, aren't you?

I notice that your scale seems to rate "weird" or "mystical" above other characteristics (2001: A Space Odyssey #1 and A Clockwork Orange #2? c'mon). And everyone knows that even though Star Wars created a genre, The Empire Strikes Back was the best of that series (we are rating movies, not paradigms, right?).

And where is Close Encounters? Does Short Circuit really rate above that? And are you pining for California with three nods to The Governator?

All that said, I have not seen Damnation Alley or Serenity (watched a bit of Firefly) so maybe I will give those a shot. Thanks for the list.

Posted by Dave Sohigian on June 10, 2008 at 06:25 AM HKT #

Hi. No scale. Listed by Year. I didn't like Close Encounters.

And, well, it was the original Star Wars that we went into line time and time again to see, right?

I did shutter a bit when I realized that Arnold was going on the list three times.

I am definitely looking to hear from folks about movies that they've seen and liked.

Posted by Robs on June 10, 2008 at 06:50 AM HKT #

What? No "Solaris?" How about "Dune?"

Posted by Sin-Yaw Wang on June 10, 2008 at 11:54 AM HKT #

I didn't like Dune that much. Maybe it's because I liked the books so much.

I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen the movie Solaris. I mean, after so many years with the company, I'm totally ashamed.

Posted by Robs on June 10, 2008 at 12:07 PM HKT #

Oh, no "Contact" (1997), which's one of my favorite :)
And others I also think really great.
"The Butterfly Effect" (2004),
"The True Man Show" (1998)，
"I Robot!" (2004)

Posted by Robin Guo on June 10, 2008 at 01:35 PM HKT #

All very worrying. Just too similar to my tastes for one or both of us not to be concerned;-)

Although you seem to be a bit Arnie obsessed. I'd drop all of his except "The Terminator" and replace with "Children of Man" and the "Trueman Show". Also it is hard not to find a place for "The day the world stood still", yup "short circuit" has to go as well.

Posted by Chris Gerhard on June 10, 2008 at 08:49 PM HKT #

@Chris Okay, I'll drop Short Circuit. And, I can let Total Recall go as well. I thought the Trueman Show was okay, but I'm just not a huge Jim Carrey fan. I just started watching Children of Men, and will probably add it to the list. I've not yet seen The Day the Earth Stood Still, but it's definitely going on my "to watch" list. As I said in my follow-up post, I need to find a place for Westworld in here somewhere... I'll re-evaluate after I get through the two titles above.

And, well, as to the similarities, being born one day apart has to count for something!

@Robin I am a *huge* Isaac Asimov fan. That they *dared* called that damn picture "I, Robot" repulsed and disgusted me. I mean, it was along the lines of taking the Odyssey, calling it "Troy", and using, umh, Achilles as vehicle for Brad Pitt to waltz around damn-near naked. (No way anybody but a friggen American could come-up with that trash, but I digress...)

Now, getting back to "I, Robot"... if they'd kept with the original title of "Hardwired", it might have been a bit more palatable. See this link for more about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%2C_Robot_%28film%29

I thought that Contact was okay.

Posted by Robs on June 10, 2008 at 09:58 PM HKT #

Right there with you on Contact, Robert. Sagan was a BHA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Personal_life_and_beliefs) and the movie was trite.

I think that it is Running Man that needs to go, not Total Recall.

One more vote for Children of Men which is definitely worth a watch. Also watch the documentary on the special features.

And Dune? That was probably the worst adaptation of a book in the history of screenwriting.

Not that I really have an opinion about any of this :-)

Posted by Dave Sohigian on June 10, 2008 at 11:44 PM HKT #

Robert, I think I should re-read Asimov's "I Robot!" to learn more :)
I recall I read it maybe in high school and can recognize little thing,
about it, I must be misleaded by the movie :p

The wiki page you point has lots of valuable comments, enjoy it.

Posted by Robin Guo on June 11, 2008 at 01:05 PM HKT #

I am so glad to see Wrath of Khan on there.

Posted by havingmycake on June 12, 2008 at 01:40 AM HKT #

I think you have to put "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" on there; and what of "Planet of the Apes"? - what an ending that movie had! I also think "Logan's Run" has to be there - a classic. And lest we not forget the fun or even comedic Sci Fi movies:
- The Ice Pirates (1984)
- The Last Star Fighter (1984)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)
- Weired Science (1985)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Galaxy Quest (1999)

Posted by Taylor Allis on June 13, 2008 at 11:48 PM HKT #

Okay, I'm gonna have to watch Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back again. First, I hope we're talking about the original Planet of the Apes, and not the recent fiasco. :) You're certainly right about the ending. Also, the timing of the movie.

I considered putting-in Logan's Run.

And, you're totally right about the fun ones. One more to add is:

Time Bandits (1981)

Which I just cannot believe I forgot to mention.

Okay, any movie can work in both the lines "she's going from suck to blow" and link a planetary defense shield to a luggage combination just *has* to be on the list.

Galaxy Quest definitely rocked. I though Weird Science was just average... I mean, besides having Kelly LeBrock in it...

Was Buckaroo Banzai really that good? I cannot remember seeing it... I'll have to look at it again.

MIB should've been on the list. No doubt.

I think I might end-up doing a top 50 list instead of top 20, and break it into serious and comedic.

btw, anybody seen Donnie Darko:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/

It's in the top 15 of the IMBD list, but I'm just not sure whether I should spend the time to get it and watch it.

Posted by Robs on June 15, 2008 at 01:01 PM HKT #

MY FAVORIT SCI FI MOVIE IS "THE GIANT PIECE OF SHIT FROM OUTER SPACE" IT WAS VERY GORY.

LEROY

Posted by LEROY DENSE on August 31, 2008 at 05:25 AM HKT #

I just had to relpy to this post. The original list is just soo predictable and misses so many Better but less known sci fi movies including...
Outland
Equilibrium
The Island
Star Man
The thirteenth floor
Deja Vu
The Chronicles of Riddick
Red Planet
Stranded
The cube
the thing
Escape from new york
Dark City

Check any of these that you have not seen, they are all top drawer.

puzznic

Posted by Puzznic on December 31, 2008 at 09:49 AM HKT #

Puzznic wrote:

The original list is just soo predictable...

ouch. Sleeper, Dark Star, Alien, and Damnation Alley on the same list is predictable?

I've seen some on your list and liked them. Escape from new york should probably be on my list outright. I definitely need to schedule time to do more sci-fi watching.

Thanks for your feedback.

Posted by Robert Sohigian on January 08, 2009 at 06:48 PM HKT #

Oh my gosh, I totally forgot Damnation Alley. I remember seeing that at the AVEN, not the raven, theater and being totally terrified and freaked out when that person gets eaten by the huge cockroaches. Also, I loved Tron. One of my favorite movies and video games!

Posted by Aram Sohigian on March 06, 2009 at 08:14 AM HKT #

My favorite Science Fiction is

Galaxy Quest
Lost On Mars
Empire of danger
Dark Star
The Thing

Posted by Sue on April 25, 2009 at 11:30 PM HKT #

Hey, another Dark Star fan! Cool!

I've got to checkout Lost on Mars and Empire of danger.

Love Galaxy Quest.

--Robs

Posted by robs on April 27, 2009 at 01:30 PM HKT #

I did not know if you have seen event horizon or liked it, but I really liked the mesh between horror and sci-fi. I am the TRUE geek (rofl) and tend not to care for comedic sci-fi's, like both comedy and sci-fi's just not together. If you have not seen Event Horizion I recommend it.

btw I agree with you on the "I Robot" movie adaption, if Asimov saw what they turned his book into...

Posted by Bob on November 26, 2009 at 02:12 PM HKT #

Robs' Blog: incoherencies from an american ex-pat in exotic beijing,
or: how i learned to stop worrying and love bureaucracy