The OFCS Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies! (1 Viewer)

[teapot2001]

I'm just waiting for someone to make a 3 hour Canticle for Leibowitz and spare no expense. And I'll keep waiting... for a long time I'm sure.

Not a 3-hour epic, but my friends and I made a 15-minute short for our AP English project in high school. It was awful for the most part. If my friends had believed in my directorial skills, it could have been so much better.

~T

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Dan Lindley wrote:

Not hard. Star Wars is "science fantasy", with heavy accent on the 'fantasy'.
That wouldn't be so bad in and of itself, if they could admit that they won't, in most cases, even consider "real science fiction" for (relatively) faithful filmization, which, fantasy fans, might mean no "romance", no fight scenes, no car/flying scooter/fighter plane chases across the screen, no "happy ending"---the best (i.e., most interesting) sf is "doomful" in my opinion---, etc. etc. etc. (In a "real" sf film people might talk about existential issues, instead. Not a crowd-pleaser, esp. to the MTV generations.)
Instead, those running the Hollywood marketing machine expropriate the label "science fiction" for whatever they think its marketing value is, and ignore the genre, while they compile long lists of sequel after sequel of ersatz-stuff.

 

[Dan Lindley]

FYI, from IMDB at Link Removed
Top 50 Sci-Fi movies
note: for these charts, only votes from regular voters are considered.
Rank Title
1 Star Wars (1977) 8.7/10 (79151 votes)
2 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 8.7/10 (32246 votes)
3 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 8.6/10 (60498 votes)
4 Matrix, The (1999) 8.3/10 (70351 votes)
5 Metropolis (1927) 8.3/10 (5283 votes)
6 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 8.3/10 (36972 votes)
7 Donnie Darko (2001) 8.2/10 (4136 votes)
8 Alien (1979) 8.2/10 (32672 votes)
9 Clockwork Orange, A (1971) 8.2/10 (33151 votes)
10 Blade Runner (1982) 8.1/10 (43404 votes)
11 Aliens (1986) 8.1/10 (35878 votes)
12 Spider-Man (2002) 8.0/10 (15053 votes)
13 Iron Giant, The (1999) 8.0/10 (7001 votes)
14 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) 8.0/10 (46139 votes)
15 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 7.9/10 (40063 votes)
16 Brazil (1985) 7.9/10 (17578 votes)
17 Abre los ojos (1997) 7.9/10 (2974 votes)
18 Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) 7.9/10 (5218 votes)
19 Back to the Future (1985) 7.8/10 (35491 votes)
20 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) 7.8/10 (23121 votes)
21 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 7.8/10 (2500 votes)
22 Terminator, The (1984) 7.8/10 (30123 votes)
23 Twelve Monkeys (1995) 7.8/10 (34023 votes)
24 Lost Horizon (1937) 7.8/10 (996 votes)
25 Fail-Safe (1964) 7.8/10 (1748 votes)
26 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 7.7/10 (14670 votes)
27 Planet of the Apes (1968) 7.7/10 (9723 votes)
28 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 7.7/10 (23337 votes)
29 Cité des enfants perdus, La (1995) 7.7/10 (5962 votes)
30 Truman Show, The (1998) 7.7/10 (36034 votes)
31 Invisible Man, The (1933) 7.7/10 (1007 votes)
32 Thing, The (1982) 7.6/10 (7621 votes)
33 Night of the Living Dead (1968) 7.5/10 (4863 votes)
34 Akira (1988) 7.5/10 (7172 votes)
35 Seconds (1966) 7.5/10 (736 votes)
36 Forbidden Planet (1956) 7.5/10 (4067 votes)
37 Kokaku kidotai (1995) 7.5/10 (3902 votes)
38 Dawn of the Dead (1978) 7.4/10 (5015 votes)
39 Dark City (1998) 7.4/10 (12472 votes)
40 Pi (1998) 7.4/10 (8784 votes)
41 Frequency (2000) 7.4/10 (8189 votes)
42 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 7.4/10 (9505 votes)
43 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) 7.4/10 (6613 votes)
44 Thing From Another World, The (1951) 7.4/10 (1261 votes)
45 Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984) 7.4/10 (1017 votes)
46 Incredible Shrinking Man, The (1957) 7.4/10 (667 votes)
47 Sleeper (1973) 7.4/10 (3122 votes)
48 Solyaris (1972) 7.4/10 (2035 votes)
49 Gattaca (1997) 7.3/10 (13026 votes)
50 Ghostbusters (1984) 7.3/10 (16215 votes)
Bottom 10 Sci-Fi movies
Rank Title
10 Ape (1976) 1.6/10 (130 votes)
9 Uchu Kaisoku-sen (1961) 1.6/10 (215 votes)
8 Hobgoblins (1987) 1.6/10 (1197 votes)
7 Track of the Moon Beast (1976) 1.6/10 (252 votes)
6 Momia azteca contra el robot humano, La (1957) 1.6/10 (95 votes)
5 Zaat (1972) 1.6/10 (269 votes)
4 Monster a-Go Go (1965) 1.5/10 (271 votes)
3 Eye Creatures, The (1965) 1.5/10 (252 votes)
2 Madmen of Mandoras (1963) 1.5/10 (79 votes)
1 Beast of Yucca Flats, The (1961) 1.5/10 (223 votes)
The top movies report uses a weighted rank calculated as follows:
weighted rank (WR) = (v ÷ (v+m)) × R + (m ÷ (v+m)) × C

 

[Larry O. Henderson]

Any debate as to the placement of 2001 on the list should automatically make the writer questionable.

We should have to present our bona fides for this topic. So here are mine:
Virtually every Saturday from age 10 through 16 at the Paramont Theater in Atlanta (yea, so i had no life). That is a ton of couble features, virtually all SciFi. Steeped in the Castle of Frankenstein(Dracula), every damn mummy movie ever made and anything that qualify for Creature Features from then to now (I am 55). A penchant for the odd, that takes me far beyond the common and does allow for the borderline films to be on this list (yes, Dr. Strangelove and Alphaville belong). The correct term should be fantasy if you take the correct view of that word. Use The Twilight Zone as you guide.

It is nice to see the inclusion of The Incredible Shrinking Man by so many of you. Like many films of the 50s this one gets missed by modern viewers.

There were few real mistakes on the list. (Even the AFI top 100 list left out The Hustler andd Hud for pity sake).

And to the one fellow who had never heard of On The Beach (sigh!!!!).

 

[BradG]

"Any debate as to the placement of 2001 on the list should automatically make the writer questionable."

I don't debate 2001 should be on the list, but I, myself, would not put it at #1.

I have read Arthur C. Clarke's 4 books on this series, starting with 2001. I absolutely loved them - fantastic. However, I found the books much more exciting and thought-provoking than the movie was.

Again, many people loved the film and that is their opinion, but I don't think the film can compare to the book (and many films rarely do). I do not get lost in the majesty and the story of the movie 2001 as I did with the book. I don't think that book can be given a truly excellent interpretation on the big screen.

 

[TheLongshot]

Ah, the Science Fiction zelots have taken over this thread.

People here critisize that most of this list isn't "real" science fiction, but that is true for most of Hollywood's existance. Why? Because it is real hard to make a film based on hard sciences and to be entertaining too.

Let's take 2001, since it seems to be the common example. I think it is a well made film, showing us how space travel could be in the future. Unfortunatly, I think it is a real bore of a film. (Yes, I have seen it on the big screen, my opinion stands.)

To be honest, I don't think most science fiction translates well to the big screen. Science Fiction, at its heart, is about ideas. It is hard to express ideas in detail in a visual enviroment as movies.

Also, movies have a lot to do with throwing out reality when it is inconvient to the plot. It is why we get guns that never run out of ammo, or the hero will never get hit by said guns. It goes against much of what literary Sci Fi stands for, which is to be "real" as possible.

To be honest, you need to diferentiate what is "movie" sci fi and what is "literary" sci fi. I don't expect much "reality" in my movie sci fi, but I do from my "literary" sci fi.

Jason

 

[Tim RH]

I don't know...I just think there should be more "quotes" in this "thread".

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Jason Birzer wrote:

That's exactly the kind of "Generation-Z" thinking the studio heads and marketeers are counting on.

 

[Jack Briggs]

And one final time: Some here need to realize and understand that just because they may dislike a film doesn't necessarily mean it's bad--and vice versa (in another thread, for example, someone is trying to make a case for The Matrix being as good as Citizen Kane; it's so easy to confuse what one happens to like with what might also happen to be good).

And, as Rex has noted, the studios are counting on the mass market's low expectations and demands. Hence, today the studios lavish the megabucks treatment on Big Dumb Movies of the ID4/Armageddon ilk. No modern studio would take on a film that examines critically humanity's position in the cosmos from the perspective of its evolution.

 

[Luc D]

Jack, we may have an actual Science-Fiction film in the works after all! Not sure if you've heard of Aronofsky's "The Fountain" (formerly "The Last Man"), but the few details that I have come across have really sparked my interest.
Short blurb, but it's the best I can do at this time
I think Aronofsky has real potential, I just hope Warner doesn't get cold feet.

 

[Steve Clark]

I agree also that it is a good list, however strongly disagree with the order. IMO, sci-fi's glory days were in the 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s. I feel sci-fi has fallen off the last couple of decades as the focus has shifted to special effects. I just can not classify Star Wars and Superman as sci-fi as to me this is more like comic book fantasy-action stuff.

(1) Forbidden Planet
(2) The Day the Earth Stood Still
(3) Alien/Aliens
(4) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1958)
(5) ET
(6) Terminator
(7) Close Encounters
(8) 2001
(9) Blade Runner
(10) Planet of the Apes
(11) The Thing (1951)

Runners Up: Them, AI, The Fly (1986), The Matrix, Body Snatchers (1978), JP.

 

[Oswald Pascual]

I am glad Dark City was on the list, I would of placed it a bit higher myself. Not a bad list I would say but I also find it hard to believe that Tron and Zardoz is on the list!