I have to disagree pretty much with the entire list. So, yeah.
STXI places 93 on Top 100 Sci-Fi List
- Thread starter Larraby
- Start date
TMP is not even in the same league as Brazil.Would have Preferd TMP over Brazil.
Time travel. Killer robots. Sounds like SF to me.
What does "it is more action than SF" mean? Most films can be classified in several genres. The fact that it has some action scenes doesn't maje it any less SF.
A film doesn't have to contain endless, boring space porn sequences to be 'great SF'.
It means...that it was probably prejudice on my part.
I'm not that big a fan of killer robots. (Gort excepted.)IMO Terminator, as beloved as it is by lotsa fans, isn't especially "great" SF, and a lot of films lower down on the list are much better IMO. It's a combination of my taste and the film's ambition (or lack thereof). To me, there's more love lavished on action and fight scenes than concept. I'm generally not in love with shoot 'em ups no matter when (or where) they're set.
I will admit Cameron is a gifted director who blows stuff up real good though. And he has a huge fanboy following. So I don't mind if others have the big T on your list but it'll never make mine. The Abyss would actually be my choice from Cameron's oevre.
And I agree with you on this completely - a lot of so called SF can be classified in multiple generes, and indeed it's not necessary to have "endless, boring space porn" to be great SF, as evidenced by the following movies I consider terrific SF that have zero to very little space porn in them at all:
Metropolis
Forbidden Planet
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Thing (1951)
Clockwork Orange
Brazil
Blade Runner
Dark City
Them!
La Jetee
Gattaca
Code 46
The Stalker
The Andromeda Strain
A Boy And His Dog
Children Of Men
Quatermass & The Pit
Altered States
The Quiet Earth
The Navigator
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Pi
Contact
AI
Close Encounters
The Iron Giant
Wall-E
Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes)
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
City Of Lost Children (SF or fantasy?)
The following movies do have considerable space porn ("endless" here may be strictly in the eye of the beholder) and I love 'em:
2001
ST:TWOK
Alien (yes, a monster movie in space)
Solaris
Star Wars
Silent Running
ST:TMP
Serenity
Moon
Was Galaxy Quest on that best of list? That's a serious ommission in my book if it's not. Ditto The Iron Giant.
And lest you think I'm a total snob (you'd only be half right), I love the cheesy The Hidden to the point that I have the SE DVD.
Well...I happen to think Children Of Men was the best film of 2006.
And a classic of its kind - it may, in fact, be a "great" film. It's certainly a brilliant one.It's an apples and oranges kind of thing, doncha know, and it's very hard to compare vastly different films from very different eras. But there's lots of room at the feast - it doesn't mean because you let CoM or XI onto the list that The Day The Earth Stood Still or other classics are diminished.
Galaxy Quest was on the list, two places behind Star Trek (2009) at #95. The Iron Giant was not on the list.
No Mars Attacks!, either, I notice, though I imagine opinions will be divided as to whether that's an appropriate omission or not.
I was surprised to see Star Trek VI on this list while the The Voyage Home is missing???
I also feel that Star Trek 09 should have placed in the Top 50.
I also feel that Star Trek 09 should have placed in the Top 50.
I'm only surprised because The Voyage Home is so overrated. I'm glad it's not on the list, because it doesn't deserve to be. But TUC, while I prefer it to TVH, doesn't deserve to be there either, at least not that high.
ST:TUC has no business on the list at all. 
Good to see Forbidden Planet up there at #12.
Good to see Forbidden Planet up there at #12.
The "endless space porn" comment was specifically a jab at TMP.TMP is not even in the same league as Brazil.Would have Preferd TMP over Brazil.
Time travel. Killer robots. Sounds like SF to me.
What does "it is more action than SF" mean? Most films can be classified in several genres. The fact that it has some action scenes doesn't maje it any less SF.
A film doesn't have to contain endless, boring space porn sequences to be 'great SF'.
It means...that it was probably prejudice on my part.
IMO Terminator, as beloved as it is by lotsa fans, isn't especially "great" SF, and a lot of films lower down on the list are much better IMO. It's a combination of my taste and the film's ambition (or lack thereof). To me, there's more love lavished on action and fight scenes than concept. I'm generally not in love with shoot 'em ups no matter when (or where) they're set.
I will admit Cameron is a gifted director who blows stuff up real good though. And he has a huge fanboy following. So I don't mind if others have the big T on your list but it'll never make mine. The Abyss would actually be my choice from Cameron's oevre.
And I agree with you on this completely - a lot of so called SF can be classified in multiple generes, and indeed it's not necessary to have "endless, boring space porn" to be great SF, as evidenced by the following movies I consider terrific SF that have zero to very little space porn in them at all:
Metropolis
Forbidden Planet
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Thing (1951)
Clockwork Orange
Brazil
Blade Runner
Dark City
Them!
La Jetee
Gattaca
Code 46
The Stalker
The Andromeda Strain
A Boy And His Dog
Children Of Men
Quatermass & The Pit
Altered States
The Quiet Earth
The Navigator
The Man Who Fell To Earth
Pi
Contact
AI
Close Encounters
The Iron Giant
Wall-E
Abre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes)
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
City Of Lost Children (SF or fantasy?)
The following movies do have considerable space porn ("endless" here may be strictly in the eye of the beholder) and I love 'em:
2001
ST:TWOK
Alien (yes, a monster movie in space)
Solaris
Star Wars
Silent Running
ST:TMP
Serenity
Moon
That's a great list, and thank you for reminding me of several great films that deserve to be on that list much more than many of those that are there... and more than any of the Star Trek films, to be honest. Abre Los Ojos was a masterpiece and one of my all-time favorites; so are Gattaca, The Clockwork Orange, Dark City, The Dead Zone, The City of Lost Children...
I've rewatched both recently and The Voyage Home hasn't aged as well, IMHO, as ST VI, which has the timeless story of enemies becoming allies.
I did like the list overall. I can imagine a lot of the conversations they must have had in putting it together - perhaps mirroring this thread. I really want to seek out some of these movies and give them a first/another try now.
See, that's what I mean about the lists being good for starting discussions. This way we get to remember some great (and some not-so-great ) movies, and perhaps revisit old favorites or even discover new films.
Yup, TMP is...leisurely...to say the least.
Actually DevilEyes, I thought you were referring to 2001 as well, since I've discovered a lot of younger folks become impatient with it. I think the thing with the starship porn in TMP was an artifact of its time...we were starved for new Trek at he time, and this was the big E's first large screen appearance...those were different days.
Anyone else here seen Moon? Y'all going to catch District 9? Intelligent SF is nnot necessarily a thing of the past.
) movies, and perhaps revisit old favorites or even discover new films.Yup, TMP is...leisurely...to say the least.
Actually DevilEyes, I thought you were referring to 2001 as well, since I've discovered a lot of younger folks become impatient with it. I think the thing with the starship porn in TMP was an artifact of its time...we were starved for new Trek at he time, and this was the big E's first large screen appearance...those were different days.Anyone else here seen Moon? Y'all going to catch District 9? Intelligent SF is nnot necessarily a thing of the past.
Space Porn isn't necessarily a bad thing if the overall movie is good.
I'd go as far as saying porn isn't a bad thing even if the overall movie is bad.
Oh wait... that wasn't what you meant by Space Porn was it ?
I'd go as far as saying porn isn't a bad thing even if the overall movie is bad.
Oh wait... that wasn't what you meant by Space Porn was it ?
2069: A SPACEY ORIFICE doesn't count.
I asked.
I'd go as far as saying porn isn't a bad thing even if the overall movie is bad.
Oh wait... that wasn't what you meant by Space Porn was it ?
2069: A SPACEY ORIFICE doesn't count.
I asked.
The bastards...
I'd go as far as saying porn isn't a bad thing even if the overall movie is bad.
Oh wait... that wasn't what you meant by Space Porn was it ?
2069: A SPACEY ORIFICE doesn't count.
I asked.
The bastards...
And 2069 TWO: THE YEAR WE REACH ORGASM was passed over as well.
METROPOLIS deserves its high ranking by all accounts. That thing remains creepy, eerie and way ahead of its time even 83 long years later.And the original Ralph McQuarrie concept artwork for C-3PO in the original STAR WARS was based rather heavily on the robots in METROPOLIS.
Some of the best Sci-Fi films have only been made in the last ten years, but overall, sci-fi as many Hollywood execs contend, is terrible. This is partly why Star Trek is such a triumph.
Event Horizon and TUC should not be on the list. I'll take a Ray Harryhausen popcorn matinee or anything from the 1950s with flying saucers over those movies.
Here's my list in no particular order:
1. Planet of the Apes
2. Star Wars
3. Star Trek XI
4. Jurassic Park
5. Independence Day
6. War of the Worlds (Spielberg, yes SPIELBERG!)
7. The Final Countdown
8. Back to the Future Trilogy
9. Time After Time (Isn't Jack the Ripper actor in this film a Trek alum?)
10. Alien
11. Aliens
12. Predator
13. Total Recall
14. Terminator
15. Terminator 2
16. Galaxy Quest
17. Spaceballs
18. Mars Attacks
19. Invaders From Mars (Original 1950s)
20. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1970s/ Donald Sutherland)
21. FROGS! (Wal-Mart bargain bin)
22. AI
23. Close Encounters
24. WALL-E
Yup, Brit actor Malcolm McDowell, who played H. G. Wells in Time After Time, is also Dr. Soran in ST:G.
Most famously of all, he was Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
Planet Of The Apes #1? Wow. That's a really...unusual...selection.
You've got some highly personal choices on there. Good for you, but you only have 24 on your list. Wanna give us #25 to round it off?Maybe we should turn this into our own favorite top 25 SF movies. That might be fun. I've already posted a bunch of favorites, if not an actual list...what about the rest of ya?
By "Jack the Ripper actor", he/she obviously meant not Malcolm McDowell, but
Yup, Brit actor Malcolm McDowell, who played H. G. Wells in Time After Time, is also Dr. Soran in ST:G.
Most famously of all, he was Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
Planet Of The Apes #1? Wow. That's a really...unusual...selection.
Maybe we should turn this into our own favorite top 25 SF movies. That might be fun. I've already posted a bunch of favorites, if not an actual list...what about the rest of ya?
David Warner, who played 3 different roles in Trek movies (Final Frontier, Undiscovered Country) and TNG ("The Chain of Command").
And yes, Time After Time is one of my favorite time travel movies, and should be on the list. Same goes for Twelve Monkeys!