Best Scifi movie of all time?

[txaslftist]

The Terminator.

(Even if it did star a Nazi, at least he was the villain)

[mhr]

1. Blade Runner - Terminator Was Sci-Fi Fantasy Not Sci-Fi!

eom

[txaslftist]

2. Okay, Blade Runner was pretty cool...

Still a close second in my book.

[Goathead]

24. What is the difference?

I always thought fantasy was like "Lord of the Rings", "Wizards" and the like.

[Terran]

35. I think SF fantasy

is simply SF that pays no particular attention to science as its foundation. Anything can happen without regard to scientific realism. It's a pretty tenuous distinction to make, IMO, because it puts a great deal of science fiction that was written a long time ago into the fantasy category. Is "The Time Machine" a fantasy merely because there are no known principles of time travel? The "Foundation" series and nine billion other novels would equally be fantasy because you have to have ftl travel to make them 'work'.

[redqueen]

60. Actually Hard Sci-Fi is the exception.

Sci-Fi includes non-scientific stuff.

[redqueen]

59. Damn right. Except The Terminator was actually Sci-Fi...

just not Hard Sci-Fi.

[Beetwasher]

71. Yes, I Can Watch Blade Runner Every Single Time It's On

Love that movie. There's only a few movies like that for me.

[El Fuego]

3. 12 Monkeys

Not just best sci-fi, maybe best movie of all time!

[txaslftist]

4. Nyeh...too intellectually dark.

[El Fuego]

83. But I'M intellectually dark, so I like it.

:7

[givemebackmycountry]

5. Give me a break.

There's only one choice here.

2001 "A Space Odyssey"

Groundbreaking.
You will never see anything like it again.

[MrBenchley]

9. Daddy's traveling....

Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.

Stop, Dave. Please stop, Dave. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.

[redqueen]

62. You know... I've been in love with Blade Runner for such a long time

due to its portrayal of the human condition and its questioning of what it is, exactly, that makes us 'human'.

But I'm often tempted to say 2001...

[Kellanved]

89. nah

The terminator isn't great either but 2001 is just overrated. The impression of greatness falls apart when one reads the book.
It boils down to being a hardly understandable special effects orgy based on a slightly worse than mediocre pseudo-intellectual novel.

The one remarkable part is the waltz, and Kubrick took the worst recording in existence of it.


IMHO the Dune movie does a better job than the 2001 movie, despite it being far less accepted.

[MrBenchley]

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey

A free form meditation on how apes became humans--and how our intelligence so often works against us.

[Taxloss]

13. Agreed.

An astonishing piece of cinema.

[MrBenchley]

23. In the Cinerama version...

the scene where Keir Dullea climbs down the ladder and walks around the inside of the ship to where Gary Lockwood has been sitting eating is astonishing....

[GCP]

30. The cinerama version KICKED ASS

I've never seen it since in a movie theater in cinerama. It was amazing. The wide-screen DVD version gives you some idea of how wide-screen cinerama was. I miss those big-ass old screens.

[MrBenchley]

41. Imax isn't nearly as good in my opinion...

What a shame most of the Cinerama theatres have been chopped up or shut down.

[Taxloss]

31. I know. I was fortunate enough to see it on the big screen.

The sunrise on the moon it also incredible; as is the trip without acid, and the primeval earth scenes, and the "Blue Danube".

The entire thing is the most remarkable parable of why we exist.

[MrBenchley]

40. It was great in Cinerama...

The Blue Danube was wonderful...as was the landing at the moonbase.

By the way, did you know that the ape make-up was not nominated for an Oscar because the nominating committee thought the sequence involved trained apes, not actors in make-up?

[GCP]

58. Planet of the Apes got best Oscar for make-up

Ridiculous.

[YankeyMCC]

15. Yeah I gotta go with this too: 2001 gets my vote

But Forbidden Planet comes in a close second for me.

[MrBenchley]

22. I also like Forbidden Planet

which is basically The Tempest updated...

I've also got a great deal of fondness for The Thing (Howard Hawks' version, not John Carpenter's)....

[Richardo]

17. No contest. Scientific accuracy + ambitious plot = all-time Top 10 film

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[MrBenchley]

20. Agreed

So many great moments...the empty board meeting on the moon....

....the club flung upward that becomes a nuclear weapon orbiting the earth....

...the bedroom suite at the end of the universe....

[YankeyMCC]

25. "the bedroom suite at the end of the universe"

Which was managed by the same people who own the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

;)

[MrBenchley]

42. LOL!

What a shock that scene is, though, when you see it for the first time.

[cleofus1]

7. difficult choices

it came from beneath the sea

[tjwmason]

8. Spaceballs

Only joking.

My vote goes for 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/

Doesn't look like much now, but this started it all off way back in 1951.

[tigereye]

37. we recently saw that again

incredible and beautiful!

[xmas74]

82. The Day the Earth Stood Still

is definitley one of the best. That or 2001.

[BlueJazz]

10. "Creature from the Black Lagoon"

Isn't that where "Hal" tells the divers (in their suits) that he won't let them back inside the Lagoon?

[FormerDittoHead]

11. 2001...

2001 was best for its pure adherence to the idea of a science fiction story projecting technology into the future and its effect on us.

then:
Forbidden Planet (I'm a big Robbie the Robot fan, but was the basis for whole Star Trek thing)
Star Wars (countless knock off movies (just check your video club), not to mention other media)
Alien & Blade Runner (whose art direction and mood continues to inspire (polite word for COPY) esp. Japanese anime.

[jandrok]

74. Another vote for 2001

Still holds up well after all these years. Killer material. Killer director.

[lpbk2713]

12. Close Encounters......

It had two dominant themes; the possibility of superior extraterrestrial life forms and a wide scale government coverup conspiracy. Odd how in one way life imitates art.

[livetohike]

34. and Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr

My all time favorite Sci-Fi movie!

[progressoid]

14. Silent Running

or maybe Dark Star...

Hmmm, let me mull this over for a while.

[redqueen]

63. Nice choices.

:thumbsup:

[ghostsofgiants]

16. "Blade Runner" or Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris"

[MrSandman]

18. Blade Runner...

#2 Spaceballs

[ImpeachBush]

19. The Quiet Earth (1985)

Great flick by one of New Zealand's top directors ... full of social commentary ... If you've not seen it, check it out. One of my all time favorite movies!

More about the flick: http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=39904

[SkipNewarkDE]

27. Wow

Forgot about that one. Saw it when it first came out, it was wonderful.

[MrModerate]

50. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull!

[ImpeachBush]

68. I see you are an "Action-SciFi" fan ....

True, there is little "bang-bang, shoot-em-up", bloody, violent, special-effect content in The Quiet Earth, but it is a good drama. I think it is a classy film, with an important message about out-of-control technology and environmental neglect. It is thoughtful and meaningful.

[MrModerate]

72. Well, I like an exploding starship as much as the next guy . . .

But I also appreciate thoughtful work as well.

I just found The Quiet Earth to be precious, strained, unengaging, and, frankly, pretty thin fare.

Just me I guess.

[Terran]

76. Hmmm, I loved it too. n/t

[Terran]

21. Blade Runner

A perfect film, assuming we're talking about the original cut and not the voice-over version. It's what science fiction is all about: what it means and what it takes to be 'human' in a setting that challenges the moral and physical parameters of humanity.

Complex, moody, dark but with great light, smart, stylish, science-fictionally sound in all respects. Great sound track, great but subtle FX. Great cast great direction. A complex yet riveting story. An ending that preserves a shred of optimism. Groundbreaking, in that it established the Cyberpunk look in film before Cyberpunk existed as a literary genre. And of course based on a work by the great Phil Dick

I do like "2001", but by comparison, it's a space opera, and one without an actual plot to hold it together.

[ImpeachBush]

29. OOps ... reply to the wrong post.

The eerie, whiney, trill stuff. Good message in that film.

[MrScorpio]

26. I love all the above and The Day The Earth Stood Still

[GCP]

32. Klatoo barada niktu

Great movie.

[MrBenchley]

44. It was a gift for your president....

What a great film that is....and a great score, too.

Today, the scene with the chain-smoking doctors being amazed at Klaatu's longer lifespan is just hilarious....

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

28. Prince of Space

[lpbk2713]

33. Didn't know the Teletubbies had made a movie.

Whaddaya know.

[Cush]

47. "You're weapons have no effect on me!"

[kodi]

36. aliens

hi tech and horribly scary

[tigereye]

38. have to say Blade Runner

[Enraged_Ape]

39. Tie between 2001 and Blade Runner

Both are highly exceptional in different ways, and both are ahead of their time. They also feature a level of detail and philosophical thought that eludes 99.99% of motion-picture science-fiction.

[RebelOne]

43. The Thing

The original one made back in the early 1950s.

[MissMarple]

80. The Thing with Kurt Russell

:bounce:

[liberalitch]

45. Outland....

what a great story!

[Tummler]

46. A Clockwork Orange

... followed closely by Blade Runner.

Honorable mention, in no particular order:

Solaris (Tarkovsky)
Alien
The Thing (Carpenter; haven't seen the original)
2001
1984

It seems there are few great "SF" (as opposed to the more vulgar term, "sci-fi") movies -- movies which are based on the thoughtful examination of ideas. Almost all popular "sci-fi" is essentially space fantasy, space opera, or some other form of action/adventure with a veneer of whiz-bang technology. It's a shame that the commercial realities of filmmaking make it so difficult to produce a cerebral movie of any genre.

[NewJeffCT]

48. Star Wars

still fun to watch even 28 years later.

[DelawareValleyDem]

49. Planet of the Apes

followed by four useless sequels.

[MrModerate]

51. What, no votes for "Plan 9 From Outer Space"?

[edbermac]

87. A classic...

My friend, you have seen this incident, based on sworn testimony. Can you prove that it didn't happen?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

52. gotta go with the obvious - STAR WARS

it may be cliched, but it gets said often for a reason.

though by saying star wars, i'm also counting empire strikes back

these two, folloed by wrath of khan

and my vote for worst - 2001
maybe i just don't get i, but i find watching ships drift around endlessly to a classical music score a bit tedious.
i've tried to give this film a chance, but i find myself screaming at the TV "DO SOMETHING!" during these long stretches. at leasdt gfive us some dialogue, ferfuckssake, mr kubrick!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

53. Robot Monster is also pretty good

"You sound like a hu-man and not a ro-man!"

[JAbuchan08]

54. I'll give you one hint.

It starts with Star and ends with Trek.

Just kidding. As much as I love Star Trek, MAYBE one of the Star Trek movies makes the top ten.

[EstimatedProphet]

61. If any of them do, I'd say The Wrath of Khan does

[JAbuchan08]

85. Funny, that was the one I thought of,

numbers 6 and one (in that order) are my next picks.

[hyphenate]

55. One that was never shown in theatres

but was a miniseries on TV: The Day After, directed by Nicholas Meyer. The best movie, with no holds barred, about a nuclear holocaust.

As far as theatrical SF, I must pause and reflect as to whether horror films, paranormal films, fantasy films or speculative fiction films count toward the total. In which case, there become too many to decide.

However, for speculative fiction, I would nominated Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and His Dog" as a superb rendition of the novel, and a lot more faithful to the original material than most films.

For paranormal, I would say "Poltergeist" or "The Dead Zone" instead of a film such as "The Exorcist" simply because they were on a more human scale.

For horror, without a doubt, my choice must be the 1950s version of "War of the Worlds." There are other excellent candidates in this category, but I eschew all "slash and hack" films for their banality.

For straight fantasy, I must put forth not one, but three films, in the final for favorite, though they are forever linked: the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While they were unable to capture the entire trilopgy in plot and substance, the effort is remarkably done. The runner up to the trilogy is another trilogy (thus far)--the Harry Potter films.

For straight SF, with nothing fantastical about it, there are four choices over which I must hesitate--E.T., 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Each of these films in their own way revolutionized the way science fiction was presented in the American cinema, and earns kudos for the daring and bold manner in which special effects contributed to the big screen.

In another category, which is one that merely uses a science fiction theme but is really about present day, I would mention Brazil and 1984--cautionary tales of a horrible future which, if taken into context, somehow captures the real life of our own times.

On television, there have also been other notable SF films/miniseries, of which I name only a few: The Martian Chronicles (with Rock Hudson), The Lathe of Heaven (a PBS) film, and Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (with Raul Julia). These happened in the early 1980s, and have never been seen since (to my knowledge), and that's too bad, because they are terrific.

[redqueen]

65. Like your pics, and the consideration of the diff. sub-genres

re: The Lathe of Heaven, that was based on a book by Ursula K. Le Guin, and if you liked it you might check out some of her other works.

:hi:

[ImpeachBush]

69. Did you see "Threads"?

It was aired on PBS, similar storyline as "The Day After". I saw them both, but found "Threads" to be much more haunting and realistic. Check it out, if you can find it. It is a very good post-WWIII film.

[hyphenate]

56. Ooh! I forgot

best films that were originally intended to be dramas, but ended up being comedies: Soylent Green and Omega Man, starring the NRA former president, Chuckie Heston. :)

[AngryAmish]

57. Godzilla

What other movie was so cool that Blue Oyster Cult did a song about it? Hmm???

[Tikki]

64. The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976).....

David Bowie

Also, Silent Running....early 70's....Bruce Dern stars.

[redqueen]

67. Whoa! I haven't seen that in a while...

surprised to see it picked as a favorite.

Love the scene where they play "Try to Remember"...

[EstimatedProphet]

66. Several choices

Metropolis-still visionary after almost 75 years

2001-where else can you see the evolution of man from ape to superhuman in one movie? People complain about it being slow, but it's telling you the story in it's own time.

Blade Runner-a movie about whit it truly means to be human

Buckaroo Banzai-a parody certainly, but well done nevertheless, and more concurrent plotlines than most any 10 movies of today taken together

Dark City-another visionary film about how subjective the nature of reality is from person to person

Star Wars-for fun, but it did fundamentally change what movies were about for good

[LeftyMom]

70. Blade Runner

I do hope the planned recut and restoration DVD comes out eventually.

[Technowitch]

73. "Aliens"

'Nuff said.

[Rowdyboy]

75. George Lucas' first film......THX 1138

http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue109/classic.html

[Terran]

78. Yes, damn good film (and a great book)

Certainly in my top ten.

[barb162]

77. 2001

[ikri]

79. 2001

Closely followed by Star Wars, Blade Runner and Alien.

Honorable mention to Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, probably one of the best TV movies ever made.

[Nye Bevan]

81. Peter Cushing in "Daleks Invasion Earth-- 2150 AD"

... oops, my mistake, that is the WORST.

[Speck Tater]

84. "Forbidden Planet"

or maybe "My Stepmother is an Alien"

[bridgit]

86. yea, 'forbidden planet'!!!

solaris too

[Cassandra]

88. Dark City was pretty cool

What's not to like about Rufus Sewell?

[Kellanved]

90. The original Metropolis

Blade runner introduces little to no new elements compared to it.
I like Blade Runner, but I'd rather accept the Japanese Ghost in the Shell movies as being groundbreaking.