A few notes about the list: I won't claim that it is entirely comprehensive. I of course have not seen every science fiction movie ever created. I know there are a few notable exceptions that have been left off of this list, you'll know what they are when you are finished. Most clearly missing in my mind, is Blade Runner, which I've only seen bits and pieces of, and which could be a serious candidate for this list. Other than that, there are certainly omissions that will make many angry, but that is inevitable with any exclusive list. I tried to judge the top 25 not only by outstanding directing and acting, but by cultural significance, popularity, originality, artistic achievement, social relevancy and commentary, and thematic elements with a clear grounding in the science fiction genre. More than all of those elements, I was looking for artistically compelling narratives that were both entertaining and deep, critical, and moving.
Dr. Strangelove
A Clockwork Orange
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
V for Vendetta
25. Enemy Mine
Released in 1985 - Director Wolfgang Petersen
Timeless, socially relevant tale of two survivors from opposite species at war who survive a crash on an uninhabited moon and learn friendship despite incredible cultural differences.
24. The Butterfly Effect
2004 - Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber
Ashton Kutcher's best role to date comes in this time travel story based upon the premise of the ancient chaos theory, that should something as minute as the flapping of a butterfly's wings occur in Japan, it will change the course of events in New York City. As such the main character is sent on a journey through time to 'correct' the universe, ultimately discovering that a perfect world is impossible and that self-sacrifice is the only way to save those he loves. Though the dialogue can be trite and the acting, aside from Kutcher, only passable, the story is well presented - and there is nothing else quite like it out there.
23. E.T.
1982 - Steven Spielberg
Obviously a classic. Doesn't quite fit into the genre of the other movies on this list, but it seems impossible to make a top sci-fi movies list and not include E.T. I don't particularly like this "softer" version of science fiction - the version which sacrifices theme for the sake of making a family movie - but E.T. is so good that it doesn't matter. The idea of the friendly alien, sparked in part by Chewbacca, would have never been completely possible had E.T. never shown up.
22. Dark City
1998 - Alex Proyas
Dark and forboding story which many say inspired The Matrix. A dying race of aliens has taken total control over a small city floating through space. They perform experiments through the endless nights on the humans by manipulating their memories and surroundings, the ultimate goal being to learn from humanity what it takes to 'survive'. Of course, one man manages to resist their experiments, takes on their unique powers, and does not sleep when commanded. The final fifteen minutes are drawn out and unoriginal and almost completely mirror, in less graphic form, the final battle between Neo and the Agents in Matrix Revolutions. However, the beauty of the film is in its powerful representation of the meaninglessness of human society side by side with the tremendous strength of the individual alone - fighting for the right to be something that he never was in the best of human cities: free.
21. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977 - Steven Spielberg
Posed the scenario of aliens coming to Earth in a realistic form for the first time in modern cinema. Paved the way for The X-Files and other Earth-bound dramas.
20. Aliens
1986 - James Cameron
19. Serenity
2005 - Joss Whedon
18. Equalibrium
2002 - Kurt Wimmer
Ninja-like fight scenes that exceed The Matrix, Christian Bale instead of Keanu Reeves, and featuring a far more relevant and realistic dystopia - it is difficult indeed to understand why this movie has an 'underground' following at all. It is tough to swallow, not flashy, unforgivingly morbid by nature. No element of the story has been included for the sake of a crowd-pleasing plot twist or diversion. It does move slow at points, and lacks the dramatic flair of the Wachowski Brothers' original flick. Yet it is hard to say anything bad. This dystopia has outlawed feeling and emotion outright, replacing a war-torn society with a strictly military-industrial complex that comes out to something of a cross between 1984 and Children of Men.
17. 28 Days Later
2002 - Danny Boyle
From the director of Slumdog Millionaire comes the starter for the best zombie franchise in business. The simplicity of the story-line is the strongest point: England is being overwhelmed by a virus inducing mania amidst all infected. It completely avoids cliche, and has reinvented the subgenre by making the zombies fast. Since the original Dawn of the Dead, the infected have been slow, quick to bite creatures whom you just had to be careful of. In the wake of 28 Days Later, zombies have become superhuman infectious vampires; witness just in the past seven years how things have changed: I am Legend, the remake of Dawn of the Dead, the sequal 28 Weeks Later, and the soon to be cult classic Doomsday are just a few examples of movies which owe a debt to Boyle. The cinematography, as in Slumdog, is beautiful. It is primarily a horror movie, but contains poignant elements of survival and a Cormac McCarthy-like starkness that I doubt the film version of The Road itself is going to be able to capture.
16. Jurassic Park
1993 - Steven Spielberg
A brilliantly entertaining and timeless tale that has become the staple dinosaur story of our generation.
15. Gattaca
1997- Andrew Niccol
Instead of outlawing emotion as in Equalibrium, Niccol's take on the future outlaws normalcy. Genetic studies have progressed to the point where the health of newborn babies are not left to chance - they are engineered to be perfect, and the top jobs in society are held strictly by those who have had their genes modified for perfection - free of disease and susceptibility to all various conditions and illnesses. It is a classic take on the ancient debate of nature versus nurture, of talent versus hard work.
14. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986 - Leonard Nimoy
13. Sunshine
2007 - Danny Boyle
12. Men in Black
1997 - Barry Sonnefeld
11. Terminator
1984 - James Cameron
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
1968 - Stanely Kubrick
9. Independence Day
1996 - Roland Emmerich
8. Dr. Strangelove
7. Alien
1979 - Ridley Scott
6. The Matrix
1999 - The Wachowski Brothers
5. Terminator 2
1991 - James Cameron
4. 12 Monkeys
1995 - Terry Gilliam
3. Donnie Darko
2001 - Richard Kelly
2. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
1978 - George Lucas
1. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
1981 - Irvin Kershner
No I did not forget about Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, or Planet of the Apes. I have never seen Blade Runner, and that makes many top lists as well.
Song of the Day: "Pistachio" by Lisa Hannigan
Off of her debut album Sea Sew (she stitched the cover design herself).This here is quite a good live performance. Her music has a distinctively Irish flair, in a way that no one since Bono or Dolores O'Riordan has managed to convey. I favor her over both U2 and The Cranberries - the latter tried too hard to be pop, the former tried too hard not to be pop. Hannigan and her band are effortlessly themselves in a way that is very unique in today's commericialized music industry. I first heard "I Don't Know" when Lisa appeared on the Colbert Report (that was a good idea, by the way - she actually did seem to get the Colbert 'bump'), and then I bought her new album. Aside from "Pistachio", both "Teeth" and "Lille" stick out as highlights of an album that doesn't really have a weak point.
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