10 best Sci Fi films of all time
First, let me say that some films which some people consider sci-fi won't make my list simply because I don't see them as sci-fi. For instance, Brazil is my favorite movie, but while dystopian, it is not substantially a science fiction movie as the differences between its world and the one which produced it are more organizational than reality (as in "the physical world is different here") based. I also only will include a single film from favorites that fall within a series.
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- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.What hasn't been said about Blade Runner? My favorite general theme in sci fi is the ability to question the nature of reality itself, and there really hasn't been any film which does this better than Ridley Scott's masterpiece. Set in a Dystopian LA - in the rapidly approaching 2019 - this film is dark and moody while being both humanistic and alienating. It boasts one of the great soundtracks of all time by Vangelis, and a cast which has few less than familiar faces. Not everyone likes it, but few will deny its greatness.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.Rounding out what is probably the most common 1-2 combo in sci fi lists is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick's adaptation of Arthur C Clark's novel could well have been done as a silent film. This might be the slowest moving movie of all time, critics will tell you. But really - who cares how slow we move when the pictures are this breathtaking. It is all the more remarkable when you consider how limited was the real world sample of space photography when Kubrick made this.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.There are a lot of reasons to like Jurassic Park, but the reason I put it this high in my list has little to do with the film and a lot to do with how people see it. Go to a video store, and you'll find this movie filed under "action." That's how good the CGI is in Spielberg's monster thriller. It's fun, smart, funny and sufficiently brown-your-shorts scary to keep the whole family happy.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.Yep...Ridley Scott cracked my top 5 twice. As much a suspense thriller as a true sci fi movie, the Nostromo commercial towing vehicle sets the stage for Sigourney Weaver's first encounter with the dual-mouthed, acid bleeding alien. If this movie doesn't have you with white knuckles, then you just don't like this kind of movie - a better one has never been made.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsRoddy PiperKeith DavidMeg FosterThey influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.Here's one that doesn't make many people's lists, largely (I believe) because they simply haven't seen it. This John Carpenter flick asks the question, "What if our overconsumptive culture is actually an alien plot, perpetrated with subliminal technology, to enslave us?" It stars the highly underrated Roddy Piper (80's era pro-wrestling fans will remember him) as a down on his luck construction worker who believes in the American dream until he learns that it's all an illusion.
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherAfter the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.I like all the Star Wars movies, but this is easily the best one of the bunch. Easily the darkest of the series in its themes, it offers some of the best moments of the series by far. From the fancy gadgets that don't work right, to ill tasting droids, to Han Solo and Leia's memorable final exchange, it's all good.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.Another good "question reality" type movie, the Matrix posits a bleak future where computers have enslaved humanity in a computer simulation. Keanu Reeves is Neo - a computer hacker turned revolutionary. Some of the best wire fighting scenes you'll likely see, this film is as exciting as cinema gets. I am not a fan of the sequels however.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.Hey, more John Carpenter. If Alien is the greatest monster's gonna get you suspense movie, this one comes in close after. Set in antarctica at the onset of winter, it follows the adventures of a remote scientific outpost as it is thrown into turmoil by some seemingly bizarre behavior by some crazy Swedes. "They're Norwegians Mac!"
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.And more Stanley Kubrick! The master takes on Anthony Burgess this time, and with great results. So iconic in its photography and so engrossing its characters that I still have a hard time seeing Malcolm McDowell without half expecting him to start humming Ludwig Van. It follows Alex DeBarge, an unrepentant thug who becomes a test subject for a new form of crime control which puts to test the concept of free will.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.I was torn on whether to include this recent entry, but ultimately like it too much not to. In a world where chemicals and machines allow a person to enter another's dreams, it asks whether it is possible to plant the seeds of an original idea in someone else's mind. Stories exist within stories within stories here, and it's easy to get lost...so pause it if you go get a drink of water.