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Best Science Fiction Film of all time!

Best Science Fiction film of all time!  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. Best of the best...

    • Metropolis (1926)
      5
    • Forbidden Planet
      4
    • 2001: A Space Odyssey
      3
    • Alien (1979)
      9
    • Blade Runner (1982)
      7
    • The Matrix (1999)
      10
    • Dark City
      0


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The history of science fiction cinema really begins with the french silent short Trip to the Moon (1902). "Greatness" is of course a matter opinion, but that opinion must be tempered with a knowledge of cinema that takes into account such influences as story, character, originality, and how a film influenced a genre.

 

I've left out the Star Wars films because they are, at their heart, nothing more then juvenille space opera dressed up in special effects and John Williams overblown score (which is a pretty blatant rip-off of Wagner for those who know nothing about classical music).

 

I could have included Planet of the Apes (1968) and Logan's Run (1975) except that both of those films, while being very good...have had little influence on what came later. They did little to forward the genre of science fiction- in short, they fell just shy of greatness.

 

No one has made a really great superhero film in my opinion, with the possible exception of the first Robocop. Robocops works well as both social satire and action film...something one has yet to find in films like X-men, X2, Hulk, The Punisher, Fantasic Four, or any of the Batman/Superman films. Until superheroes are brought to the screen as they have been seen in comics at their best (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, etc) filmed versions of superheroes will continue to have limited quality.

 

I've picked 2001: A Space Odyssey. The depth and influence of this film cannot be overstated. Many film makers including George Lucas, Spielberg, Paul Verhoven, J. Michael Strazuski, and Ronald Moore have cited this film as an influence and have championed its greatness. It seemlessly combines many themes including:

 

1. A.I. (Artificial Intellegence) in the computer Hal-9000.

2. First Contact.

3. Fantastic alien technology (The Monolith).

4. Faster-then-light travel.

5. Dehumanization in a machine dominated social order.

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No Klaatu Barada Nikto? Serioulsy, I do think The Day the Earth Stood Still should make it to the list. It was one of the first to raise the spector of alien intrusion into our world and our all too usual response of weapons.

 

I have never seen Metropolis but hope to do so someday.

 

I understand the almost revered status that 2001 has achieved but I would have probably voted for Planet of the Apes - I found the story particularly compelling. Forbidden Planet would be a close second.

 

As for influence - I remember when the third Star Wars film was released commentators were discussing it's pace and if you watch movies (not just scifi) made in the seventies compared to those of the nineties you will notice much tighter, faster paced movies. I have been "conditioned' by modern film making so when I watch a movie from the seventies it feels like they spend five minutes just filming a person walk across the room. I don't know that this is a good influence but it definitely has affected the movie genre.

 

As for originality - I keep hearing that Forbidden Planet is loosely based on The Tempest - it's been a long time since I saw The Tempest - all I really remember is Ariel but I love movies with a psychological element and FB definitely gets my vote for for the psych factor.

 

My personal vote for original concept is Stargate - I'm not suggesting it belongs on the list of great movies but I thought the space travel without space ships was original and I really liked how they incorporated ancient mythology into the plot (okay I admit I'm a sucker for pyramids and Ancient Egypt) but the old "alien takes over human" plot device is wearing a bit thin.

 

I was trying to think of a really memorable character - I guess that would be HAL

 

I didn't vote because there was no "other" category.

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What?....No "Earth VS The Flying Saucers"???

 

Its campy but its my favorite sci-fi flick of all time.

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What?....No "Earth VS The Flying Saucers"???

 

Its campy but its my favorite sci-fi flick of all time.

 

I have to confess that I own this film on DVD and while it seems campy now, it was cutting edge in its day and if you ask me...it is still superior to that horrible mess called Independence Day.

 

EvsTFS was done by special effects master Ray Harryhausen, and his work on this film would not be surpassed until Forbidden Planet. Even George Pal's War of the Worlds wasn't as good (and it was in technicolor).

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Well, the best Science Fiction film of all time has to be "They Live". The movie itself was pretty dumb, but who can forget Roddy Piper's famous line:

 

"I came here to kick *buttocks* and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum."

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Still not as funny as Army of Darkness starring the most impressive chin on the planet- Bruce Campbell!!!!!!!!!

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Star Wars series. I know what you said, but Star Wars has been studied and scrutinized and I've seen it called everything from Sci-Fi to what you called it, to a Western. I believe it probably belongs to all these genres, including Science Fiction. So I reject your dismissal and put it in as a write-in vote.

 

That, and I haven't seen any of your poll options. The only other Sci-Fi movies I can recall having seen are "Men In Black", "E.T.", and the comedies with Sci-Fi twists: "Spaceballs" and "Time Bandits."

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Star Wars series. I know what you said, but Star Wars has been studied and scrutinized and I've seen it called everything from Sci-Fi to what you called it, to a Western. I believe it probably belongs to all these genres, including Science Fiction. So I reject your dismissal and put it in as a write-in vote.

 

That, and I haven't seen any of your poll options. The only other Sci-Fi movies I can recall having seen are "Men In Black", "E.T.", and the comedies with Sci-Fi twists: "Spaceballs" and "Time Bandits."

 

I recommend a little cultural expansion - some movies even though they are dated are worth watching just to see how they influenced the genre. I've seen 2001 and if you haven't I'd recommend it but like I mentioned earlier it was filmed back when they spent more time on visual rather than actions scenes and the pace might seem slow to anyone used to the fast paced action movies of our day. I personally liked 2010 better for that reason. I'd definitely watch Forbidden Planet and I still recommend The Day the Earth Stood Still and the original Planet of the Apes (which IMO has the best movie ending ever).

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Hmm...I haven't seen most of these.

 

As for leaving off Star Wars, George Lucas himself says it's not Sci-Fi. It's Space Fantasy..Or Opera as you put it.

Edited by Sam The Smuggler

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Hmm...I haven't seen most of these.

 

As for leaving off Star Wars, George Lucas himself says it's not Sci-Fi. It's Space Fantasy..Or Opera as you put it.

 

A good point. Most science-fiction either makes a half-hearted attempt to explain the science or at least uses some cool technobable. Star Wars didn't do that. The closest it came to portraying scientists of any type were the Kamino cloners, and the actual use of science were the midi-clorians (and many fans didn't even like this).

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The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is the best science fiction movie of all time. LOL.

 

Followed closely by The Matrix (which I voted for on your poll).

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Hmm...I haven't seen most of these.

 

As for leaving off Star Wars, George Lucas himself says it's not Sci-Fi. It's Space Fantasy..Or Opera as you put it.

 

I can't agree with George Lucas on that point. Some say that his use of the Force in the Star Wars films makes them Fantasy, which I cannot agree with. Certainly Deep Space Nine and Babylon-5 have had supernatural elements in them...and that doesn't mean they aren't science fiction anymore. The "Force" as I see it is nothing more then the Lucasverse term for psionic powers including telekinesis, telepathy ("The force has influence on the weak minded"), and precognition.

 

Anthing that has blasters (laser pistols), FTL* travel, and robots that can talk is clearly science fiction.

 

 

*Faster Then Light.

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1.Metropolis

 

2.Forbidden Planet

 

3.2001:A Space Odyssey ("2010:The Year We made contact")

 

4.Time Bandits

Edited by LoveMalePecs1

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1.Metropolis

 

2.Forbidden Planet

 

3.2001:A Space Odyssey ("2010:The Year We made contact")

 

4.Time Bandits

 

I'm not sure if Time Bandits can be called science fiction. The device used by the bandits to time travel is a map they stole from God and which in tern is sought after by Evil...to my mind Time Bandits, while certainly a wonderful film, seems far closer to the likes of The Wizard of Oz or Harry Potter then, say, The Terminator films or 2001.

 

Mind if I ask why you picked Metropolis (I love that film and bought it when it was released restored by Kino).

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No Klaatu Barada Nikto? Serioulsy, I do think The Day the Earth Stood Still should make it to the list. It was one of the first to raise the spector of alien intrusion into our world and our all too usual response of weapons.

 

I have never seen Metropolis but hope to do so someday.

 

I understand the almost revered status that 2001 has achieved but I would have probably voted for Planet of the Apes - I found the story particularly compelling. Forbidden Planet would be a close second.

 

As for influence - I remember when the third Star Wars film was released commentators were discussing it's pace and if you watch movies (not just scifi) made in the seventies compared to those of the nineties you will notice much tighter, faster paced movies. I have been "conditioned' by modern film making so when I watch a movie from the seventies it feels like they spend five minutes just filming a person walk across the room. I don't know that this is a good influence but it definitely has affected the movie genre.

 

As for originality - I keep hearing that Forbidden Planet is loosely based on The Tempest - it's been a long time since I saw The Tempest - all I really remember is Ariel but I love movies with a psychological element and FB definitely gets my vote for for the psych factor.

 

My personal vote for original concept is Stargate - I'm not suggesting it belongs on the list of great movies but I thought the space travel without space ships was original and I really liked how they incorporated ancient mythology into the plot (okay I admit I'm a sucker for pyramids and Ancient Egypt) but the old "alien takes over human" plot device is wearing a bit thin.

 

I was trying to think of a really memorable character - I guess that would be HAL

 

I didn't vote because there was no "other" category. i voted alien it wild spooky and such bu 2001 good too and forbidden planet also...

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1.Metropolis

 

2.Forbidden Planet

 

3.2001:A Space Odyssey ("2010:The Year We made contact")

 

4.Time Bandits (one of my all time favorites)

 

5.Blade Runner

 

6.The Day The Earth Stood Still

 

7.The Time Machine ("both movie versions")

 

8.Planet Of The Apes films

Edited by LoveMalePecs1

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From the list above i voted for Blade Runner :) ...but i wouldnt say it was the best Science Fiction Film of all time.

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I vote Alien, but I like Aliens more. The first movie was really good, but it felt like something was missing. Whatever was missing in the original movie, it is found with this installment. James Cameron brings his movie magic to this series and makes it explode into something that is unspeakably excellent. It has action and a great story, the two things that I always go for. It is in this movie that the aliens are given a name, xenomorphs. All of the actors are really good and improved over those who were in the previous. I never can place it with this series, but this added what was missing for sure.

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I vote Alien, but I like Aliens more. The first movie was really good, but it felt like something was missing. Whatever was missing in the original movie, it is found with this installment. James Cameron brings his movie magic to this series and makes it explode into something that is unspeakably excellent. It has action and a great story, the two things that I always go for. It is in this movie that the aliens are given a name, xenomorphs. All of the actors are really good and improved over those who were in the previous. I never can place it with this series, but this added what was missing for sure.

 

I've often heard the "Alien" vs "Aliens" debate and I still tend to think the first was better for a couple of reasons.

 

First- "Alien" was probably the first genuinely successful blending of horror and science fiction. The script by Dan O'Bannon, Ridley Scott's direction was flawless (he would later go on to direct Blade Runner as well as Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven) and the designs of H.R. Giger all came together to create something that was far more then just a horror/scfi hybrid but a true statement of existential terror worthy of H.P. Lovecraft.

 

Second- "Aliens" is certainly a fine and worthy sequal, but it has a couple of flaws that are just too glairing to be ignored. For one, at one point Ripley is supporting her own weight plus the weight of the Alien Queen while fighting winds of up to several hundred miles an hour in an open airlock. The strongest man that ever lived could not support himself, much less himself plus a creature nearly as large as an elephant. That the second film essentially duplicates the first film's ending is also a weakness and makes it inferior to the initial film.

 

Third- I would argue that "Aliens" is a different kind of film from its predecessor. "Alien" is, again, far closer to horror/suspense and has elements of Alfred Hitchcock in both its style and execution. "Aliens" seems to be essentially a cousin of the American Vietnam war movie and seems far closer to Platoon. At its heart..."Aliens" is an action film which is, in my mind, an inferior species of genre.

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I agree that the first film successfully blended the scifi and horror genre. I can also see your point of view. I just don't know why I didn't enjoy the first film as much. It does have a lot of great points. Alien had a lot of moments that has me on the edge of my seat when I watch, no matter how many times I watch. And the brilliance of the first movie is that there is only one alien on the film, but yet it can generate so much fear anyway. It goes to show that you don't need a lot of monsters to make a movie scary. With that said, and you do make a good point, I still like Aliens. I just can't say why, 'cause I don't know. Hmm..I guess it depends on personal taste.

Edited by Gamera

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Please don't misnuderstand me...I really like "Aliens". I just think that "Alien" is the better film, but the margin is small between the two. :)

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Well, the best Science Fiction film of all time has to be "They Live". The movie itself was pretty dumb, but who can forget Roddy Piper's famous line:

 

"I came here to kick *buttocks* and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum."

:P Duke Nuke em on the PS1 use's that line... :P

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:P What about "This Island Earth"?

 

This Island Earth was pretty good for its day, but it has aged horribly to the point that it was made the object of ridicule in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.

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