The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the Last 15 Years

[GreyLord]

Yeah, no.

I cannot disagree more with this attempt to cabin off what is, and what isn't, science fiction.

Let's see-

Her takes place in the future (check).
With technology that we don't have today (check).
The primary theme is using the future to tell us about today (check).
Oh, and one of the characters and a major issue in the plot involved artificial intelligence (check).

I could keep going on, but if that's not science fiction, then I can't agree with you on anything.

The problem with Her isn't that it is not Sci-Fi, but it just doesn't have that much of an impact. What movies has it influenced in their creation? Has it fundamentally changed movie making? Has it even fundamentally affected Science Fiction movie making?

It came and went. That doesn't mean it is bad, it just isn't what meets my definition of "best." especially when we are excluding other movies that actually DID have major influences.

I was pointing out that it makes no sense that a movie like HER made it, but Avatar did not.

There are movies there that I haven't seen (A quiet place, Colossal, Endless, and Annihilation) which may have very well also been better things to point out, but I didn't know them as well as HER. I chose HER because I know the film better than others.

It's not a bad film, and certainly could go on a Best list, but not when they exclude others which I see having a greater appeal, also were critically acclaimed to a degree (Avatar actually won 3 academy awards...and the awards in many ways were similar to ones Star Wars won if that indicates the impact it would have in the future), greater impact, and basically had more that it did with the exception of maybe story and writing...something seems off to me.

But, as I Pointed out, though through snark and sarcasm via a quote...when we really look at the list, there is no basis for what is "Best" or not on that list except basic opinion. There isn't really any other factor except people who voted felt it was "best" in their qualifications and opinion.

PS: Opinion - A prime example for me...science fiction in movies is MORE than just a literary medium. It also has to be a visual and auditory medium, something that includes more senses than just your mind. I have books to engage my mind, and they tend to do a better job (not always, but normally). The way it is shot, the way the music interacts is a LARGE part of what helps me determine what is "best" in my opinions (rather than based on objective measures like impact). This is why Tron Legacy would probably go on my best lists...because it has great visuals and sound accompanying it...even if the story isn't as deep as some other movies. HER may have decent writing, but the visuals and music really just were not meshing perfectly for me.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

The problem with Her isn't that it is not Sci-Fi, but it just doesn't have that much of an impact. What movies has it influenced in their creation? Has it fundamentally changed movie making? Has it even fundamentally affected Science Fiction movie making?

It came and went. That doesn't mean it is bad, it just isn't what meets my definition of "best." especially when we are excluding other movies that actually DID have major influences.

I honestly don't know how to respond to this? Again, don't get me wrong, I enjoy me a good Cameron flick. The guy knows how to shoot an action sequence. He likes water. He enjoys spending money. And he loves tech- not in a "Kubrick, I'm going to know everything there is to know about film" way,* but still.

...yet we are still talking about a guy who used "unobtainium" as the name of the mineral in Avatar. Who has trouble with single entendres, let alone any kind of visual metaphor.

Her, on the other hand, has a good story- heck, a great story (it won awards and stuff). But, as you might expect from Spike Jonez, it's also incredibly visually inventive; I assume you know that the color palette used in the movie were matching the emotional resonance of the scenes (kind of like a Confederacy Dunce, that). Or even the masterful use of framing of the characters to reinforce their own internal struggles. And don't get me started on the use of light!

Heck, people can (and still do) write papers analyzing a lot of these issues with Her. Just because you didn't pay much attention to it, doesn't mean that other people didn't. And in the end, the people that did are the people that make and talk films a lot.

It's kind of like saying, "I've never seen an Anderson** film. So who cares, really?"


*Or, if you prefer, Nolan.
**Wes or P.T. Not 'Mr. Anderson,' Matrix fans.

 

[Ryujin]

Part of it is the Tech (though it is Traceable directly back to the tech used), but most of it is IMPACT.

What impact did the movie have on movies in general and on science fiction movies.

Half the movies on the list wouldn't exist in the state they are without Avatar and the influence it had on the movie industry. They LITERALLY WOULD NOT EXIST in the state they were made.

In that aspect, it's like the original Star Wars of the 21st century. Most of the REASONS came from the tech that was used to make it, and the ensuing use of that tech afterwards, which is the same reason Star Wars has been considered rather important on the scheme of movies as well in many ways.

I a similar vein, going further back would be Wizard of Oz or Gone with the Wind and their promotion of certain film making techniques, camera work, set design, and usage of color.

Including any list of the "best" movies or the ones that are the greatest movies of all time without any of those calls any list that excludes them...into question.

Of course, it may be a different parameter of what people are using to define best (and what IS best defined as?), but Many of the movies we have today would basically not exist in the form they exist in (if they existed at all) without the aforementioned movies.

Ceasing to exist at all, kind of shows just how much the movies on that list depend on the ones that influenced them previously, even if that movie was in the past 15 years.

But, as I mentioned in my first post, it really comes down to opinion...what is the definition of "best?"

Is it the story? Is it the idea? Is it the set design? Is it the camera work? Is it the influence? Is it the impact? What exactly defines...BEST.

You see, I would argue that those movies would still likely exist, but the presentation would be different. A great movie is great because of the story it tells and the way that it's told, far more than the visual trickery that might be used. you can be quite subtle with the use of what you have, as in "The Wizard of Oz." Colour film existed and, while novel, wasn't really new. Starting a film in black and white and then switching to colour was using the existing tech in a different way, but it wasn't transformative of the medium. It was a method of storytelling that slipped past many viewers' conscious minds.

The effects in "Star Wars." "Bullet Time" in "The Matrix." These were visual tricks that may have added to the experience, but didn't do much for the story. Star Wars could still have been done using Harryhausen's stop motion. The reflection effects in "The Matrix", while not new, had much more impact on the storytelling than "Bullet Time" did.

You can make a movie subjectively look better but if you don't have a story capable of drawing in your audience, all of the frippery in the world won't help much. In the past I've mentioned "Jupiter Ascending." The Euro-style effects in that movie were as different from our normal fare, as Lucas is from Harryhausen. That didn't make it a good movie. Nothing did.

And I guess that I'm an outlier here, but "Avatar" makes me yawn.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

No Armageddon? WTH??! Oh, last TEN years. OK, carry on then...

 

[MGibster]

Is it the story? Is it the idea? Is it the set design? Is it the camera work? Is it the influence? Is it the impact? What exactly defines...BEST.

It's all subjective. While I don't think Avatar belongs on a list of great science fiction movies, it's not a hill I'm going to die on and I'll respect anyone who puts it on their list.

 

[Rabulias]

Star Wars could still have been done using Harryhausen's stop motion.

It wasn't?

 

[Ryujin]

It wasn't?

I said Harryhausen, but was more thinking Corman.

 

[MGibster]

I said Harryhausen, but was more thinking Corman.

First Jenny Agutter and now Sybil Danning. I'm starting to feel faint.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Starting a film in black and white and then switching to colour was using the existing tech in a different way, but it wasn't transformative of the medium. It was a method of storytelling that slipped past many viewers' conscious minds.

Effects that the viewer doesn't notice are the most powerful. Colour palate shifting is still used a lot in modern film making. There is a lot of it in The Lord of the Rings trilogy for example.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I said Harryhausen, but was more thinking Corman.

You think low quality special effects don't matter? They don't hurt the audience's suspension of disbelief?