Best science fiction film of the 21st century (so far)

[label]

That may be *your* definition of Sci-Fi, but it certainly is not everyone's.

I didn't mean to convey that was my entire definition in that one sentence, nor did I intend to communicate that it was the only viable one anyone should use. I simply tried to paint a word picture to convey what I felt was the spirit or essence of what it takes to be considered Sci-Fi......

Sci-Fi, like any other story telling category, is are ultimately about characters. (good stories, anyway) Good Sci-Fi tries to examine how these technological changes/abilities affect the characters. Which is something "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" does in a great way.

I agree.......I said as much in my posts. And this is where Inception differs for me personally from ESofSM......the tech abilities in Inception is such a pervasive thread in the movie where the technology is constantly being talked about and is the underlying mechanism by which any story could be told in the first place. It spends almost the entire movie using that technology, planning on what to do with it, and how they will use it. Definitely Sci-Fi in that the entire movie revolves around the technology and how they use it and yet it's still a great study of human nature.

All's I'm was trying to say with ESofSM is that there's only one small part of the story that has anything to do with technology and even that was just a way of getting to the story they wanted to tell which revolved completely around the relationship in the movie and had next to nothing to do with the technology involved.


Consider this........what really would have changed about the story at all if they used hypnosis instead of a magic machine that they used? In my opinion, nothing at all. The main story could have been told exactly the same except for their wasn't a magic machine involved and it wouldn't have detracted from the movie in the least because the "sci-fi" aspect of the movie was never the point.

In any case, it just threw me that some people considered the movie Sci-Fi because it would have never dawned on me to think of it like that. Still, if people consider that story Sci-Fi, it's
really not a big deal........I was more just curious why people though the way they did.

 

[Mistral]

Am I really the only person to vote for WALL*E?

Well fine. You're all wrong.

And Star Wars is NOT science fiction! *headdesk*

It's got spaceships, aliens and robots. Let's not get fussy.

Whether any of those movies are worth voting for is another thing entirely.

I voted for it!

 

[Alex1939]

I'm shocked to discover I've only seen four of these (Donnie Darko, Revenge of the Sith, Serenity and Star Trek).

In that case I recommend watching: Avatar, Children of Men, District 9, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception, Iron Man, Moon, and Wall-E asap!

 

[Darth_Daver]

Children Of Men, District 9, Moon, Man From Earth...
They are all perfect. But I voted for Children Of Men...

 

[exodus]

Gimme a break... someone actually voted for TREK (2009) as the best Sci-Fi film of the last decade?



I mean, come on... one can like that movie, granted. But INCEPTION, D9, CHILDREN OF MEN and so many other were so much better.

What's so funny?
They could have said "Cloverfield".

 

[Jetfire]

Iron Man & Spider-Man...no The Dark Knight!? What is separating TDK from Spidey, IM & The Incredibles???

Iron Man uses a powered armor (in fact, much of the first movie deals with how this suit was conceived and built). Spider-Man is a guy who gets bitten by a genetically engineered spider and then mutates. Batman is a billionaire who goes into the Himalaya to learn how to fight criminals. Not much Sci-fi here. At least not as central plot device like in the other two movies. The most scifi-ish element of The Dark Knight is probably the "cellphone sonar network".

True.

I picked The Incredibles.

 

[Nowhere Man]

You expect us to keep this up for the next 89 years?

1.Inception
2. Star Tek
3. District 9

 

[RAMA]

I just watched the "The Man From Earth" from this list for the first time. Wow is that a good movie!

RAMA

 

[Kelso]

^ I know, right? I loved that flick.

 

[RAMA]

^ I know, right? I loved that flick.

I miss very few SF movies, I vaguely recall hearing of it, but somehow it got past me. I was actually on my way out the door when I had to write that exclamation last night. So what can I say...it was Requiem for Methuselah with an extremely down to Earth, realistic approach...no SFX needed except some excellent acting by some ST alumni and others. I think I definitely need to add this to the top 15 list!!

Gimme a break... someone actually voted for TREK (2009) as the best Sci-Fi film of the last decade?



I mean, come on... one can like that movie, granted. But INCEPTION, D9, CHILDREN OF MEN and so many other were so much better.

Why not? I voted for it. Granted, there are a lot of good SF movies from this century so far, but as an entertaining movie with a good storyline it was awesome. The Boston Critics Circle named it the top 10 movies of 2009 (along with many others lists), it was called "The best prequel movie ever!" On the critical mass section of Rotten Tomatoes, it outranks almost every other movie on THIS list (with over 400 reviews)! ON IMDB its also one of the top movies on this list. It was almost nominated for an Academy Award for best picture according to sources, and it was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Writer's Guild Award. No other ST movie and most of the other movies on this list were not nominated for a writing award. It also has cache' within the SF community being nominated for 6 Saturns and nominated for a Hugo. In short there is no reason to be surprised its in the top vote getters for best movie.

Gimme a break... someone actually voted for TREK (2009) as the best Sci-Fi film of the last decade?



I mean, come on... one can like that movie, granted. But INCEPTION, D9, CHILDREN OF MEN and so many other were so much better.

Your mileage may vary. I thought Children of Men was pretty hokey myself. The last pregnant woman on Earth? Oh please. It did have some excellent cinematography though, granted.

Lots of SF movies have that plot device...that one or number of events that change the world in order to make a point or base the story on...Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, Demolition Man, and many more. I don't fault it for that. Its an excellent movie, but I didnt put it in my top 10.
RAMA

 

[LitmusDragon]

Gimme a break... someone actually voted for TREK (2009) as the best Sci-Fi film of the last decade?



I mean, come on... one can like that movie, granted. But INCEPTION, D9, CHILDREN OF MEN and so many other were so much better.

Your mileage may vary. I thought Children of Men was pretty hokey myself. The last pregnant woman on Earth? Oh please. It did have some excellent cinematography though, granted.

 

[RAMA]

Iron Man & Spider-Man...no The Dark Knight!? What is separating TDK from Spidey, IM & The Incredibles???

Iron Man uses a powered armor (in fact, much of the first movie deals with how this suit was conceived and built). Spider-Man is a guy who gets bitten by a genetically engineered spider and then mutates. Batman is a billionaire who goes into the Himalaya to learn how to fight criminals. Not much Sci-fi here. At least not as central plot device like in the other two movies. The most scifi-ish element of The Dark Knight is probably the "cellphone sonar network".

True.

I picked The Incredibles.

Wrong, Batman is often conceived in what is bascially an alternate history or near future world...the 1989 batman used this background heavily, Batman Begins also used it..Dark Knight was less obvious in this respect but takes place in the same universe. Also, he is almost completely a high tech crime fighter, using both tools and methods not available except to a self-motivated billionaire, albeit with physical/mental skills picked up in Tibet. Its a superhero movie, an action movie, a drama, as well as "sci fi".

RAMA

 

[exodus]

Gimme a break... someone actually voted for TREK (2009) as the best Sci-Fi film of the last decade?



I mean, come on... one can like that movie, granted. But INCEPTION, D9, CHILDREN OF MEN and so many other were so much better.

Your mileage may vary. I thought Children of Men was pretty hokey myself. The last pregnant woman on Earth? Oh please.

I agree.
The metaphores were very heavy handed.
The last pregnant woman on Earth just happens to be Black-"Mother Africa". Michael Caine the hippy that thumbs his nose at authority to the point he laughs as he's shot to death by them. Only thing missing was Clive Owen turning to the camera holding a sign saying: Message!

 

[Gaith]

Children of Men was also excellent, but was more fantasy than SF.

 

[Harvey]

I just realized the superb animated film, A Scanner Darkly (2006), isn't listed here, either.

What's so "fantasy" about Children of Men? It seems like a realistic extrapolation of a simple idea (women in the future can no longer become pregnant) to me.

 

[Gaith]

The idea that women the globe over could suddenly become totally infertile is fantastical, and nothing in the movie hints at any kind of actual/hard science. So I'd call it Urban Fantasy more than SF.

Minority Report, on the other hand, has brain scanners, brain-visualization devices, sophisticated technology, etc.: ergo, science fiction.

Trek XI I'd call just barely SF because of the black hole and time travel elements, no matter how goofy. AOTC/Sith, not even close. V for Vendetta, Hitchhikers and Incredibles have no real SF that I can think of.

 

[exodus]

The idea that women the globe over could suddenly become totally infertile is fantastical, and nothing in the movie hints at any kind of actual/hard science. So I'd call it Urban Fantasy more than SF.

Minority Report, on the other hand, has brain scanners, brain-visualization devices, sophisticated technology, etc.: ergo, science fiction.

Trek XI I'd call just barely SF because of the black hole and time travel elements, no matter how goofy. AOTC/Sith, not even close. V for Vendetta, Hitchhikers and Incredibles have no real SF that I can think of.

Doesn't the fact that the main villain in the Incredibles uses Giant Robots and amazing but unknown technology put it in the sci-fi catagory?

However, I think you're right about "V for Vendetta".

 

[Harvey]

V for Vendetta is set in a future dystopia. I haven't seen the latest version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but assume it's still filled with space travel, aliens, and intelligent dolphins. They both sound like SF to me.

Speaking of Minority Report, the idea that three humans will have precognition of violent crime is pure fantasy as well. But the film is a (somewhat) realistic extrapolation of that idea. And if it's gadgetry that interests you, Children of Men had just as many things like that. They just weren't front and center.

 

[Sci]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for runner-up.

I don't think I've ever thought about considering this a "Sci-Fi" movie......though I really liked the movie quite a bit. Still, I think it's definitely far more of a romance/relationship study with a pseudo sci-fi plot device to facilitate the story but very little "sci-fi" per-se.

It's based on the premise that there is a technology that can erase memories, which does not exist in real life but probably could exist in theory, and then explores the realistic consequence of such a technology's employment.

How is that not science fiction?

 

[Gaith]

As much beef as I have with Eternal Movie of the Pretentious Mind, I agree that it's obviously SF.

And if it's gadgetry that interests you, Children of Men had just as many things like that. They just weren't front and center.

It had a few improvements on today's moving screens, but nothing like the very advanced stuff in Minority Report.