Your top 5 sci-fi movies (and why)

[Mannahnin]

So good. If you have the chance, look up how they shot the car scene.

Oh indeed.

I'm sorry, Mannahnin, I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do. The top five science fiction movie list is too important to allow you to jeopardize it by leaving 2001 off of it.

Point of order- the thread asked "your top 5" not "the top 5". I answered it as such.

I think it would be a much more boring and uniform thread if we were all going primarily on historical importance and significance. Just shuffling around the order for Star Wars, The Matrix, 2001, Metropolis, Alien, Terminator, and Blade Runner, with the occasional hot take. The thread would have to be changed to a top 10, and even then less than half the content would be really interesting.

Speaking of which...

Now, those are the top five. My own personal Snarfian list would be quite different. I tend to really enjoy films like Under the Skin, and would ask questions like, "Is Poor Things science fiction?"

Far be it from ME to give you challenging homework, but I'm much more interested in hearing about this so-far-hypothetical list.

 

[The Soloist]

I used to think this movie was really good, but then I realized it's only really good when compared to other ST movies.....

And it's a very basic pirate stranded on an island by an Imperial Navy captain revenge story.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Hmm, thinking here.

1: Star Wars - Episode 4: a new hope. It started one of the biggest adventures yet.

2: 5ft Element - Humour, action, and chaos. Stunning visuals. Multipass!

3: Bladerunner - The stunning visuals made cyberpunk. It has to be the version WITH the voice-over, and WITHOUT the unicorn dream sequence.

4: Matrix - Cool visuals, and special effects. Also felt quite deep at the time.

5: Alien - The interiors of the ship is what real space craft would be, compared to the shining white ships we too often see. The Crew are blue-collar workers doing a job and getting in to deep..


Honorary mentions:

• Terminator - Arnold nailed the acting of the menacing robot.
• Hardware - it's cheap, but it works. and has some interesting cameos in it. Like Lemmy and Iggy Pop. And very good soundtrack.
• Tron - Cheesy, but it pushed the limits at the time.
• Strange Days - Cool story. Recording memories is a staple now in some types of cyberpunk stories.
• Dune - (The David Lynch version) - Very good soundtrack, and I think it captures the book well.

 

[Mannahnin]

And it's a very basic pirate stranded on an island by an Imperial Navy captain revenge story.

Mostly. "Hornblower in space", sure.

It's got a few other things going for it. Montalban is excellent and totally challenges Shatner for scenery-chewing, giving us a distinctive and memorable villain for the ages. The ceti eels are horrifying (scarred me as a kid) and fun. The climax "submarine" battle between the two ships is wonderfully dramatic and the resolution a very sci-fi tactical one, and the finale with Kirk and Spock and the engine room is a classic tearjerker and sendoff for a beloved character. It's melodrama, but exceptional melodrama.

 

[Mannahnin]

3: Bladerunner - The stunning visuals made cyberpunk. It has to be the version WITH the voice-over, and WITHOUT the unicorn dream sequence.

I'm super torn over this one. The original theatrical version is the one I first fell in love with, but Ford did hate those voiceovers and phone them in, and the flatness of his performance on them is a thing. I think the Director's Cut (without the voiceovers and with the dream) edges out the original, for me.

 

[Mannahnin]

100% this. It’s a stellar movie in every way. The soundtrack kicks ass, too.

I should probably put this in my also-rans too. It's pretty darn great. More of a top 20 contender than a top 10, though.

And yes, the soundtrack is one of those 90s soundtracks that stick with you. I've listened to No White Clouds by Strangefruit repeatedly this year. And multiple Skunk Anansie tracks? Yes please.

 

[Ulfgeir]

I used to think this movie was really good, but then I realized it's only really good when compared to other ST movies.....

Like the 4rth film, where they go back in time to the 1980s?

 

[payn]

Hardware - it's cheap, but it works. and has some interesting cameos in it. Like Lemmy and Iggy Pop. And very good soundtrack.

That was a bizarre movie. Funny you bring it up I posted the Public Image track hete just the other day.

 

[Ryujin]

And it's a very basic pirate stranded on an island by an Imperial Navy captain revenge story.

And yet simple stories sometimes make for the best movies. For example premise of "The Fifth Element" is one of the most hokey and time-worn of all. How do they win? Love conquers all.

It's the execution that makes the difference.

 

[The Soloist]

And yet simple stories sometimes make for the best movies. For example premise of "The Fifth Element" is one of the most hokey and time-worn of all. How do they win? Love conquers all.

It's the execution that makes the difference.

LOL! I'm not a fan of the Fifth Element either. I don't have found memories of it and didn't enjoy it when I tried rewatching it a few years ago.