Best sci-fi ever.

[foxmulder710]

Yeah, what a dweeby thread title, but alas I'm too lazy to spend time coming up with better.

So, my question is, what is the best sci-fi and why?

Not just a general sort of "Uhm X because I liked it the best," but rather...which series or books etc. were The Best at being what they set out to be?

For example, while I've always thought Trek itself was best on trying to keep up with scientific credibility, Babylon 5 was good at being a novel-for-TV: introduce themes, introduce characters, introduce intensely involved plots, and then resolve (pretending the Telepath War didn't happen, for a moment) all of them.

Lost is the best at being sci-fi covertly, I think...though that was over once the Physics prof in season 4 started time-shifting...

Philip K. Dick's novels are the best, I'd say - next to Robert Anton Wilson's - at keeping the reader uncertain of what is actually going on, in terms of how "much" reality what's being described has (cf. The Three Stigmata Of Palmer Eldritch)....

And I pass the subject to ya'll...


P.S. The X-Files was of course the best at being overall creepy and dark, though when it comes to overall plot, the conspiracy was...slightly unsatisfying.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Y: The Last Man, no contest.

 

[Reverend]

2001: A Space Odyssey

End of.

 

[Neroon]

It might make the thread more interestingly active if you'd explain why you hold these properties in such high regard.

 

[DWF]

Dr. Who for the sheer variety of storytelling which I think is the ultimate strength of science fiction in general.

 

[Goliath]

H.G. Wells's early novels from 1895 to 1901--The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon.

The ones that started it all.

Well, maybe not When the Sleeper Wakes. It's the least of the six, and Wells himself revised it later.

But the rest are gold.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Star Trek, for creating a wide-ranging yet thematically consistent universe that continues to have huge entertainment potential and has an underlying intelligence, in that it has something to say about the human condition. Characters can come and go; with Star Trek, the premise is the only vital character. That gives it maximum flexibility.

Star Wars may have done the same thing if you count the novels. I'm not an expert on that, but it certainly has the potential to match Star Trek.

 

[Kirkman1987]

Blade Runner

It's the most atmospheric Sci-fi film ever, with an entire futuristic world that is astonishing to look at. Everytime I watch this, I notice something new that fascinates me.

like the best science fiction, It has a strong message about humanity. I love the question of "what is human?". I also love how Deckard can be viewed as the villian of the piece, a guy who just follows his orders and blasts down the much more human replicants.

There's not a lot of it in the film, but the action that is there is exciting. The moment when Deckard guns down that snake woman is exciting and tragic all at once, and the climax is just frightening

It even has a great love story, which is rare for science fiction films. My Girlfriend agrees...."Kiss me, I want your hands on me" is just sexy.

This is my Favorite Sci-Fi film, no exceptions.......

 

[Norrin Radd]

2001...because it's among the first films to truly take sci-fi seriously.

 

[Targ_of_Kahless]

The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester, a work of pure and utter genius. Granted some of it may seem like it's a bit dated (it was published in the 50s) but most of the ideas in it are still original. It's an outrageously weird book.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I agree with 2001.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Things to come.

 

[stj]

Don't take the idea of the single best piece of SF very seriously myself---but playing the game anyhow, consider Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.

 

[Lookingglassman]

The New Battlestar Galactica because not only do we get cool space battles, but they are just like us with our problems. I can relate to them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Trek (in all its forms)

Also: Charlie Jade

 

[captcalhoun]

Transformers. robots that turn into cars, planes and stuff and beat the snot out of each other. how can that fail?

ESPECIALLY with the added awesome of the Dinobots: robots that turn into DINOSAURS!

 

[judge alba]

the Godzilla films. when ever I'm a little peed off I'll chuck one of them on and laugh the acting a little two dimensional but what the hell they're so funny. gonna have to try and find a few of the newer ones

 

[Triskelion]

Neuromancer, the best cyberpunk novel and harbinger of a whole new subgenre.

Thread wouldn't be complete without William Gibson.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

In terms of important influence, we should also remember the space opera genre tradition initiated by Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Lensman, and the "sci fi as cautionary tale about technology" tradition begun by Mary Shelley with Frankenstein.

 

[foxmulder710]

It might make the thread more interestingly active if you'd explain why you hold these properties in such high regard.

I did both as a way of starting the thread and because...they're just sort of aesthetic givens for me...

Though the question of how people arrive at criteria for what they define as "pleasant" or "worth watching" etc. does interest me.