When you love Science Fiction movies, making a list like this is very difficult because you want to include every film you have loved. But I can’t. So, after a lot of culling, from best to good, here is my top 15. NOTE: In the case of sequels I have only included one of the set.
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We held a competition on this article to select 5 random commentors who could select a DVD from the list as a prize. On the afternoon of September 8, 2007, 5 registered commentors were randomly selected. The winners were:
Miccas75
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Congratulations to the winners!
1. Blade Runner [1982]
In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is a Blade Runner, a cop who specialises in terminating replicants. Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when five replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth.
2. 2001, A Space Oddesy [1968]
When a large black monolith is found beneath the surface of the moon, the reaction immediately is that it was intentionally buried. When the point of origin is confirmed as Jupiter, an expedition is sent in hopes of finding the source. When Dr David Bowman discovers faults in the expeditionary space craft’s communications system, he discovers more than he ever wanted to know.
3. Alien [1979]
When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship’s computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late.
4. Star Wars [1977]
Part IV in a George Lucas epic, Star Wars: A New Hope opens with a rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. The plot then follows the life of a simple farmboy, Luke Skywalker, as he and his newly met allies (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2) attempt to rescue a rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire. This eventually leads to the Rebels, including Skywalker and flying ace Wedge Antilles making an attack on the Empire’s most powerful and ominous weapon, the Death Star.
5. The Matrix [1999]
In the near future, a computer cracker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is “farmed” to fuel the Matrix’s campaign of domination in the “real” world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix.
6. Solaris [1972]
The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence, but the details are hazy and very secret. After the mysterious demise of one of the three scientists on the base, the main character is sent out to replace him. He finds the station run-down and the two remaining scientists cold and secretive. When he also encounters his wife who has been dead for seven years, he begins to appreciate the baffling nature of the alien intelligence.
7. Terminator [1984]
A cyborg assassin called “The Terminator” is sent back through time to 1984 to kill the seemingly innocent Sarah Connor – a woman whose unborn son will lead the human race to victory in a bitter future war with a race of machines. If the Terminator succeeds, mankind is doomed. Sarah’s only hope is a soldier from that post-apocalyptic war, who has chased the Terminator back through time. The future of the human race depends on which one finds her first…
8. Metropolis [1927]
It is the future, and humans are divided into two groups: the thinkers, who make plans (but don’t know how anything works), and the workers, who achieve goals (but don’t have the vision). Completely separate, neither group is complete, but together they make a whole. One man from the “thinkers” dares visit the underground where the workers toil, and is astonished by what he sees…
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still [1951]
An alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort) land their spacecraft on Cold War-era Earth just after the end of World War II. They bring an important message to the planet that Klaatu wishes to tell to representatives of all nations. However, communication turns out to be difficult, so, after learning something about the natives, Klaatu decides on an alternative approach.
10. Frankenstein [1931]
An obsessed scientist creates a living being from parts of exhumed corpses. No longer so much a movie as it is a genuine part of popular folklore, the film itself shows its age, particularly in the absence of a musical score. But the performances by Colin Clive and particularly the great Boris Karloff are the whole show here, forgiving a multitude of creaks and groans and more than compensating for any lulls in the narrative. Truly a film everyone should see at least once
11. War of the Worlds [1953]
H.G. Well’s classic novel is brought to life is this tale of alien invasion. The resisdents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills. Thier joy is tempered some what when they discover it has passengers who are not very friendly. The movie itself is understood better when you consider it was made at the height of the Cold War – just replace Martian with Russian.
12. Brazil [1985]
Sam Lowry is a harried technocrat in a futuristic society that is needlessly convoluted and inefficient. He dreams of a life where he can fly away from technology and overpowering bureaucracy, and spend eternity with the woman of his dreams. While trying to rectify the wrongful arrest of one Harry Buttle, Lowry meets the woman he is always chasing in his dreams, Jill Layton. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy has fingered him responsible for a rash of terrorist bombings, and both Sam and Jill’s lives are put in danger.
13. The Thing [1982]
An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog crashes leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realises that an alien life-form with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they don’t know who may already have been taken over.
14. 12 Monkeys [1995]
When Cole, a convict volunteer, is sent back in time to find information on a deadly virus that will destroy 5,000,000,000 members of the human race in 1996-1997, he mistakenly arrives in 1990. After explaining his plea to Dr. Kathryn Railly, he is placed in a mental institution. In 1996, he kidnaps Railly, using her to find the 12 Monkeys, a group of revolutionists that are planning to release the virus into select cities.
15. Close Encounters of the Third Kind [1977]
Planes reported missing in 1945 suddenly appear in the Mojave desert. A commercial flight is buzzed by a ‘bright’ object that the pilot ‘wouldn’t know how to describe’. Roy Neary, while working one night, has a Close Encounter… The US Government determine where the visitors plan to land and create an elaborate cover-up to keep people away. However, a group of people, including Neary, share a vision which draws them to the place and a meeting with new, and old, friends
Bonus: The Fifth Element [1997]
Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the fifth element can stop the Evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years. She is helped by ex-soldier, current-cab-driver, Korben Dallas, who is, in turn, helped by Prince/Arsenio clone, Ruby Rhod. Unfortunately, Evil is being assisted by Mr. Zorg, who seeks to profit from the chaos that Evil will bring, and his alien mercenaries.
Notable omissions: Star Trek movies, Planet of the Apes, Children of Men, Dark City, ET
Plot summaries courtesy of IMDB
Technorati Tags: Movies, sci-fi, science fiction
This Island Earth complete with commentary from the Mystery Science Theater characters.
Pluto Nash (just kidding)
Spaceballs was hilarious. Close Encounters was ahead of its time. E.T., Star Wars, et al. and a few of the Star trek movies. Did anyone read that Shatner was *****ed that he wasn’t included in the new Star trek movie. Shat should be in that movie! Just a tidbit to throw out there.
Damien, you are soooo descriptive. I could ask a five year old for a response to a movie and get, “it was god-awful boring”. No offense intended, but I feel someone needs to come to Solaris’ defense. Maybe it’s ahead of its time, and thus will be appreciated as we grow into beings of compassion and spiritual substance.
How is it that Frankenstein made the list? And ‘The Thing’ movie itself would probably fit better under horror. I think ‘Mission to Mars’ easily bumps these two.
#1 first time to respond to one of these after years on the net…so on to it
bladerunner is one of the best ever #1 i dont know but i still after all these years want to read the short story it was based on “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep”
remake of the thing was good but original was better.
would Dr. Strangelove count on this list . i dont know but it did get some people thinking.
and what about The Blob. lol both were funny not really all that good though.
Where’s “A Clockwork Orange?” What about “Planet of the Apes?” I would have put either of these on the list instead of “The Fifth Element” which I didn’t like at all.
How embarrassing. Out of all of these movies, the only ones I’ve seen are the ‘Star Wars’ movie. Haha. I do love them though!
swampsnake: I loved the blob – it was my favorite as a kid (even though it was made well before my time – I am thinking of the ’58 version).
Shawn: planet is in the notable omissions – so it was close. I actually own all of the Planet movies on DVD – so the omission was not out of my personal feelings – I love them. Oh – and Planet and Clockwork orange are on other lists on the site – both excellent.
Now that I have started commenting I can’t stop!
“Planet of the Apes” I thought for sure would have made the list
i would have included at least one Star Trek movie (Wrath of Khan was the best)
ET brought warmth
Spaceballs was the perfect parody
Planet of the Apes
The Time Machine (the original)
Back to the Future
I heard that Blade Runner syncs with Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”. I have not seen the movie but I love Pink Floyd and am considering trying it.
I think Gattaca should have been a Notable Omission, but I still like the list. I have seen most of these movies.
Oh, and Back To The Future should have been on the list. Definitely.
Well, I have to say – a few films have been lost in the shuffle here. How about…
THX1138 – Anybody ever see this? Certainly it qualifies as sci/fi.
The Andromeda Strain – Already cited in one of the comments, this is good “cerebral” sci/fi, like they used to make.
Scanners – Yeah! A guy’s head explodes! Other Cronenberg films qualify too, like “Videodrome”. I saw the first part of “Rabid”. Creepy.
Wavelength – A nice little alien contact film starring Robert Carradine and Cherie Currie. Nothing really deep but a good movie regardless.
Silent Running – An environmentalist sci/fi movie. Kinda depressing.
Them – Classic from the 50s.
Serenity – Yeah, it was based on the series from the guy who created Buffy, but give it a chance anyway. I was very impressed.
While we’re at it,…
Why all the lionizing of “Blade Runner”? Sure, it’s good, but think how good it could’ve been if it had included Mercerism like in the book. And the fact that Pris and Rachel are the same model of replicant and look the same. They left out a lot from that book and the movie has little meaning for me because of it. It’s eye candy, nothing more.
Many wonderful movies discussed here, all of which bring back movieland adventures in my past. Here are a few notable films that have not been mentioned thusfar however:
Fantastic Planet – French animated and intriguing.
Zardoz – Sean Connery stars.
Grand Tour: Disaster in Time – Jeff Daniels
The Lorax – written by…. well, you know who
Classic examples as to why the Science Fiction genre just plain kicks ass. However, 15 movies is a severely abridged list. Here are a few other movies worthy of the list…
1. Forbidden Planet – it’s called the grandfather of all science fictions for a reason.
2. Godzilla – the 1951 japanese classic.
3. The Beast from 20000 Fathoms – well all of Ray Harryhausen’s works are classics, but this one is my favorite.
4. The Thing From Another World – the 1950′s precursor to John Carpenter’s classic.
5. The Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy – brilliant concept, excellent acting, science fiction gold.
6. Jurassic Park – The original is still the best.
I could ramble on about other science fiction classics, but I won’t bore you guys to death by doing so.
Is “Children of Men” too recent, or just not that significant ?
glad to see Metropolis is getting credit. Anyone who han not seen it should. Most sci fi movies have themes introduced in the movie. It even has a great dance(see it)
It absolutely amazes me that “Colossus – The Forbin Project” never makes any ‘Best Science Fiction’ movie list. In my humble opinion, it is in my top 10.
LEXX?
Hey joojoo, thanks for the tip. I had not heard of Lexx, but now I’m going to check it out.
By the by, another extraordinary film (probably the absolute best film to ever deal with time travel) is Primer.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/
I can’t agree with Frankenstein being dubbed as sci/fi….
i used to think T2 was the best of the trilogy, probly cause i was younger and there was more action, but i now think the first one is the best, partially because it was pretty low budget and it was James Cameron’s 2nd movie that he directed and wrote the script for, plus Michael Biehn was the ***** in that movie
Ehrm… Close encounters of the third kind? Jesus… I thought the only sci-fi list this one was going to be on, would be the “unbearingly boring sci-fi”-list!
Just to be serious for a minute, even while I’m not a Trekkie, I thought that Star Trek Vger was incredibly stunning. The plot I mean.
Annunnakike: Sorry have to say this. STV (Voyager) is no where near the Idea of V(y)ger. Voyager Rocked, Vyger was cute idea from the Motion Picture. One is a Ship the other is a satellite.
Logan’s Run, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes are super awesome too.
Not so sure Solaris would be on my short list, but…
And you did leave out one of the best of all time, Forbidden Planet. So many later movies drew from that one, like Total Recall with the martian power plant.
OK, some people may consider my comment downright blasphemous, but I have to do this anyway: There is no way The Matrix belongs on this list. It was an over-hyped, style-over-substance waste of time and money. Notwithstanding that Keanu Reeves hit his peak as an actor with “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, the normally brilliant Lawrence Fishburn looked like he was sleepwalking through his role, and the oh-so-horribly-cliche “I love you” comment from what’s-her-name to bring Neo back to consciousness was so bad it would have had to be better just to bore me. It was all special effects and damn little else. The acting was abysmal, the script was worse, and it was one hackneyed and cliched plot device after another. An interesting premise done very, very badly.
But, as H.L. Mencken once noted, “No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American audience”.
Oh WiseOne, thank you for gracing us with your greatness.
what the hell, 2001 is *****e
I feel that a lot of the classic sci-fi movies come off a bit cheesy to me. While I do enjoy movies like Star Wars which dealt more with creating an entire world beyond what we knew at that time. I was not born when theses films were created and when I watch them I don’t really have a true grasp of how grounding breaking the use of muppets and models really was especially by today’s standards. I think star wars is an over-rated classic if I may possibly say that with all dude respect and have my point understood that for me classic as it may be I feel that a true classic remains fresh. What I mean by that is that the effects and sound design in that movie where awesome for that time but unless you have at least a 5.1 system at home you can’t really enjoy that aspect. And I don’t think there was anything particularly innovative about the story or the cinematography.
Besides that, I also really loved The Matrix but the story was by now means new. The idea that we are not experiencing the world as it is relates directly to several philosophical theories specifically Descartes “Evil genius” look it up! Besides that you might want to check out a movie that came out in 99′ called The Thirteenth Floor which had a very similar concept. There are many well know sci-fi films that are directly their story directly from philosophical texts. I think The Matrix was one of the most ground breaking because it took an almost 400 year old theory and brought it to life with new cinematographic techniques via cgi…I’ll stop…lmao
But yea…The matrix had its fair amount of cheese too
What! No love for The Empire Strikes Back!
i’m surprised Gattaca is not on the list. while its not your typical brain dead sci-fi movies it is one of smartest sci-fi movies ever. i think its those sort of movies that should be on the list. the ones that are entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time
Who cares how long a posting is, jfrater? Good grief, have a cow will ya? Maybe some folks feel what they have to say matters and they explain more the firt time than having to post 20 times with one liners?
I like this list though I didn’t care much for the 12 Monkeys and would rather have put “Planet of the Apes” on here if you have to have ‘monkeys’ involved.
I thought “John Carpenter’s The Thing” was more Horror than Sci-Fi. Never saw Solaris (nor Metropolis either) but I’ll remedy that. Brazil??? Never heard of it.
My Fifteen:
1. War of the Worlds (Original)
2. Day the Earth Stood Still
3. The Crawling Eye
4. Forbidden Planet
5. Tarantula
6. Creature From the Black Lagoon
7. Earth VS The Giant Spider
8. Wasp Woman
9. Incredible Shrinking Man
10. Planet of the Apes
11. Alien
12. Empire Strikes Back
13. Independence Day
14. Plan 9 From Outer Space (Hey it’s a classic dud but funny!)
15. Journey to the Seventh Planet
Bonus: Island of Dr. Moreau (Marlon Brando version)
Those’re my picks and I don’t recall anywhere stating they have to be ‘blockbuster’ movies either.
brazil is definitely one of the weirdest and most awesome movies ive seen…
I am quite surprised I havnt see Children of Men on here more. I know it recieves an honorable mention, but I think it deserves a little more than that. As a movie, I thought it succeeded incredably well to draw the viewer in with extremely realistic shots, good characters, good dialogue, and above all long long camera sequences – that above all was the best thing. Although it does not really comment on society and only has the one idea that it develops (infertility), I thought that it succeeded excellently well with what it set out to do.
Great list! I agree with it almost completely, except that I would put any one of the omitted films on the list in place of 5th Element, which I just found silly. Planet of the Apes has to have a spot, come on.
Two Jeff Goldblum movies, The Fly and Jurassic Park, should have at least made the notable omissions list.
This summer’s Dark Knight should be added to this list. It is a great movie that features a number of near-tech science fiction elements. Same with Iron Man.
An interesting twist on this list might be to have a hard sci-fi list, that is, a list where science fiction is distinct from fantasy or speculative fiction in that the movie doesn’t use technology that is impossible (lightsabers, faster-than-light starships, teleportation, time travel). Our list above edited on that criteria would look like this:
1. The Matix (the first one, before the Cohen bros violated their own milieu and allowed Neo to start using magical effects outside the matrix).
2. Batman: The Dark Knight
3. Metropolis
4. Frankenstein
5. Brazil
6. The Thing
7. Children of Men
8. Dark City
9. Jurassic Park
10. Iron Man
11. Strange Days
12. Vanilla Sky
13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Don’t beat me up on the order, because I haven’t given it much thought.
SERENITY anyone?
I am legend
minority report
I think Alien should be higher on the list or even #1. I’ve only seen pieces of 12 Monkeys and Bladerunner and I can’t say I was all that impressed, but I have not given up on them I will watch them someday. If you forget the Matrix 2 & 3 were ever made then yeah 1 was great.
You should also add:
Predator (all time classic, can’t believe it’s not on here)
Total Recall (Cheezy as hell but fun to watch)
T2 (waaaay better than the 1st and probably the best sequel ever made)
Alien(s)(another good sequel)
Demoliton Man (Same as Total Recall)
Event Horizon (Not the best movie per say, but a cool story)
I must admit about halfway down the thread I started skimming, but I didn’t see anyone mention Ropocop. I think its a horribly under-appreciated movie, now-a-days anyway. Maybe because its so often presented as a pair with the successful (but incredibly awful) sequel. Does anyone else feel the same? Or maybe a better question, has anyone bothered to watch it earnestly in the last 10 years?
Its quite lovable and VERY well written. I’ve never heard of another movie that deals with the man/robot mind concept (a la Blade Runner), with such a humanistic “story of a man” kind of approach. Its very charming to see the man from the beginning of the movie slowly seep into the robot; ‘cybernetic or not, a good man is a good man.’ It nabbed a couple oscars and dominated the Saturn awards, I don’t know why its reputation has diminished so much.
Its simple but its not dumb or shallow, its actually pretty stylish, humbly acted, and slick overall. [accidental alliteration
]
Solaris was horrible -
Agree with earlier posts – Dark City & Demolition Man
C’mon, I’ve seen all these, I want something to see on sunday
BTW, when they release a movie based on Foundation by Isaac Asimov I’m outta here !
what about free jack, the running man, virtuosity and toy soldiers, i liked them at least,
Great list… but C’MON!!! Where’s Akira? One of the best cyberpunk films of all time!
Star Wars (part 4-6) -1st thing you think of when sci-fi is topic
12 Monkeys -best plot ever?
Alien
Terminator
Matrix
Predator
The Thing -first of its kind
Pretty solid list to say the least. But I would have bumped “Frankenstein” into the horror category and replaced it with “Forbidden Planet” – a very influential sci-fi classic. And I would humbly bump “Solaris” in favor of “THX-1138″ – a very disturbing movie.
It was my birthday when they selected the 5 winners of this article. SEPTEMBER 8! Sorry I am a schizophrenic so my other side has a birthday of his own
i like science fiction movies which have the realities in the future to become a truth i like adventrous movies to,like pirater of the caribbean lords of the rings vanhelsing etc
I think Matrix is possibly one of the most overated films of all time. when it was released I reckon everyone got caught up in the moment but you look but back it and it’s soooo boring
I agree with Bladerunner though; despite Harrison’s questionable acting abilities it is nothing less than stunning.
2001 is in a league of its own too. I thought it was shame that Akira was nowhere to be seen though
I know this movie is not the greatest sci-fi movie of all time, it might even be the worse, but it was generally entertaining through out and had a kick ass ending “A Boy and His Dog”
Getting time to add AVATAR to this list. My recomendation is: take out MATRIX put in AVATAR.
Anybody over the age of 10 and an IQ higher than 50 has to admit: MATRIX was truely aweful and well deserving the lead of Keenau-what’s-his-name …
In spite of the worthy titles chosen,the absence of forbiden planet makes this this list incomplete…
damn!
Colossus:The Forbin Project is a terrific sf film.Fantastic Voyage is fun too,even if it wouldn’t be considered a Top 15 SF Film.
I would add Quest for Fire as well.
Blade Runner
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Foebidden Planet
The Noah
First time commenting on what has become one of my favorite all-time websites! There’s a lot of talk (when discussing Luc Besson’s 5th Element) about how Chris Tucker’s Character ruins the movie… Really? Look harder at the world/universe the movie is set in: over the top, commercialized and garish. It makes MORE sense that a pop star in that world would be completely obnoxious, doesn’t it? My personal opinion is that Ruby Rod is smartly written and played to perfection by Mr Tucker. Anything more sedate would be out of place in Besson’s well fleshed-out universe. Just my 2 cents. Great site!!
I prefer the original “The Thing” from 1951. For the most part, remakes of old classics are a bad move, and we are seeing far too many of such. I hear that “The Incredible Shrinking Man” is in the remake/remodel process only this time as a comedy.
“Serenity” wasn’t really that good, although I did like the premise of the short-lived “Firefly” series. The western/sci-fi motif was perhaps a decade ahead of its time, as the original “Star Trek” and “Kolchak the Nght Stalker” were.
Contact is maybe number one. Its really annoying not to list it up there