I just got off a 14 hour flight. I slept 10 hours of it, but spend the remainder of the time watching Snowpiercer, a pretty cool sci-fi post-apocalypse movie that makes up for its imperfections with some dazzlingly original high concepts. A couple of weeks ago I watched Interstellar, which I absolutely loved. Anyway, it got me wondering what some of your favourite sci-fi movies were?
Sure, feel free to drop some classics, but everyone already knows that Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner is good! Let’s hear about some more recent ones that some of us may have missed out on or completely overlooked. Snowpiercer, for example — I didn’t even know that existed until 5 hours ago. What else is worth watching.
An obvious one I would suggest, which was popular, but some of you might have ignored because of Tom Cruise, is Edge of Tomorrow. That was actually a little bit amazing.
Now you go!
Comments
164 responses to “Off Topic: Favourite Science Fiction Movies”
They’re all my favourites
This!
I quite enjoyed Sunshine until that terrible crazy russian super strong fire ravaged maniac came in, dropped trou and unleashed the fury all over what was a promising film with some outstanding filming.
Outside of that – Event Horizon was pretty god damn boss.
I loved the first half, maybe the first two thirds of Sunshine. Then it was like the writer died and some other dude stepped in to finish it off, and he thought he was supposed to be writing a slasher movie instead of a sci fi movie.
Amazingly bad ending wasn’t it. The worst I can remember in any film to be honest.
100% agree. I still love it though.
I didn’t think the end was that bad. Could have been better for sure, but it wasn’t film-ruining for me.
I find that tonal shifts and plot point have almost never ruined a film for me, it’s just too easy to assume that brilliant directors are so stupid and that our film knowledge is so vastly superior to theirs so we don’t bother to wonder why a creative choice was made, we just assume people are stupid. I’m usually just wondering what happens next instead of actively attempting to judge and watch at the same time.
I loved the sudden appearance of the old captian! That “who is the fifth crew member?” part really ramped up my adrenaline levels. The ending isn’t the best aspect of the film but I still thought it was good.
As to the original question, Alien/Aliens would be up there for me (for different reasons). Such timeless classics.
I was actually surprised by the movie “Edge of Tomorrow”, due to having a natural aversion to Tom Cruise. But caught it last weekend and enjoyed it quite a bit. Good bit of blockbuster popcorn there
Yeah cannot stand Cruise myself but absolutely loved Edge of Tomorrow.
I find with Tom Cruise movies I’ll either get past the fact it’s Tom Cruise within the first ten minutes and I’ll enjoy the movie, including his character, or I’ll get hung up on it and hate it. There’s no real middle ground. It’s not like when I normally can’t stand an actor where after enjoying their movie I’ll say the movie was great inspite of the actor. I’ll admit that the Mission Impossible movies work because of him.
I was trying to figure out why I dislike him the other day because it’s not like he’s a terrible actor or someone who phones it in for every other movie. He seems to genuinely care about his work. By all means I should be able to at least respect him as a professional actor but I just don’t. I felt this way even before his personal life really came into focus.
Hee just super mediocre most of the time, works better as a blank slate for you to project your own personality on. He’s Hollywood’s answer to the silent protagonist.
That said, he’s amazing in Interview with a Vampire.
“Theres life in the old lady yet!”
*dances with corpse*
It’s a sci-fi movie about Tom Cruise dying a lot.
I couldn’t not enjoy it.
that was before he went batshit crazy
Is it? Or is it before he found a group of like-minded ….People.
But yeah, he did seem to have more personality in the 80s.
His performance in Tropic Thunder was legendary.
It is a really good movie, I’ve probably re-watched it five times now…
Agreed, surprisingly good for Mr Cruise.
The book it’s based on (The Only Way Is Kill) has a better ending imho, but Hollywood loves their formula too much.
Protagonist has to kill Rita to end the loop.The book title is ‘All You Need is Kill’ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
Thanks, I stand corrected 🙂 Is definitely worth reading if you liked the movie, and it’s only short.
They actually started republishing it with the title “Edge of Tomorrow” which I found to be hugely tacky. Thankfully I found a copy with the original title and cover.
I think he’s been fine as an actor… Personal life whatever….
Minority Report
Oblivion
Edge of Tomorrow
War of the Worlds
All pretty good.
I loved all those movies except Oblivion as I haven’t watched it. Might need to watch it now.
I’d advise not watching the trailer beforehand.
I’d agree
I REALLY enjoyed Oblivion. A lot of hate for it, and it is a fairly ‘generic’ storyline, but it was so easy to watch and some fantastic landscapes!
I think people who aren’t fans of tom cruise actually enjoy that movie because you get to see him die so many times.
The first hour of edge of tomorrow was good but after that the films premise became it’s worst enemy and I found it rather droll……a shame really
yeah agreed. under performed but it was quite good.
moon. couldn’t stop thinking about that film for a week after watching it.
That Duncan Jones has gone from Moon to Source Code to Warcraft makes me so giddy with excitement.
See I see that progression as steps backwards. I suppose Warcraft could be good, I won’t judge too early, but Source Code’s own logic broke the movie. How could the machine let him see things the dead guy he’s inhabitng didn’t see (like a cctv camera knowing what happened behind it?!)? And even if it made the simulation based off all the recordings of the dead, how could it show things that happened off the train after he alters events that can’t possibly have been recorded? AND how would any sort of court system take that result as evidence?!
No sense, no sense at all. Huge flatline after Moon.
And that ending… I was good with everything (well, everything except the stupid name) right up until the ending.
If they’d ended it ambiguously it would have been awesome. Instead it was cheesy and frustrating.
Moon, though… what a film. Love it.
I came here to mention Moon as well. Sam Rockwell is fantastic, and the story was brilliant and unique
Timecrimes (los cronies crimenes)
Primer
Upstream Color
I’ll second Shane Carruth’s Primer and Upstream Color. I thought Snowpiercer and Interstellar were both pretty rubbish in terms of their story. Pretty visuals though. My addition to the list would be Coherence. A recent scifi movie that was pretty fun to watch play out.
Watched Coherence on the weekend. Loved it. Thanks for the tip!
Timecrimes was great!
District 9. Don’t you wave those tentacles at me!
Fookin prawns!
A few of my favourites in no particular order… Blade Runner, Robocop, Alien, Aliens, Moon, Gattaca, Looper and probably some others that I can’t think of right now off the top of my head.
Looper! Forgot it & love it so!!!
It was a good film, but Gordon-Levitt’s munted face creeped me out big style.
Ha ha! Yeah, they needn’t of bothered making him look like a plastic Bruce
I hate Gattaca after I had to study it in Year 11… After the 30th time watching it and analyzing every single scene, colour, phrase etc…. you learn to hate it very quickly.
That being said, in some ways Equilibrium has a very similar style but I enjoyed that much more. Also it actually has action scenes.
I think you’d hate any film after watching it 30 times in the space of a year 😛
For those of us who only watch it when we actually want to, it’s a great movie 😛
It took me so long to get over Gattaca. I copped it 2 years in a row – first for English Lit in Year 11 and then English in Year 12. Looking back on it, though, I can appreciate it’s quality. I still never, ever, EVER want to watch it again, though.
I love Equilibrium. It’s a bit dumb, and even the action is a bit dumb, but he made a style of action that was entirely unique to his film, and that’s so rare these days.
I love the idea of the end fight. If you forget the idea of “gunkata” and just view it as close-quarters combat with guns then it’s a very cool idea for an action scene.
gattaca very under appreciated and ahead of its time.
…now that I stop and think about it, I can’t seem to think of any. Well I mean I’ve got a soft spot for the Alien series, etc. The big name stuff is all fine. But there isn’t really much in terms of lesser known/talked about ones. All I can think of is various creature features, not sci-fi.
Umm. Equilibrium was some random movie that I’d never heard of but we hired out once that seemed cool I guess. Not that I can remember much about it other than Sean Bean dies again.
Event Horizon. Obvious ones like Alien, Aliens, Predator, Terminator & T2. One of my favourites is Westworld. The Thing.
Struggling to name a few now. I prefer sci-fi to be done in a TV series rather than a film as I feel the premises and characters need to be fleshed out that much more when it comes to sci-fi, so if we can include TV shows, the Star Trek (obviously), Battlestar Galactica, X-Files, Babylon 5, Space Above & Beyond (still cut about that being canned), Stargate, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits. The list is more endless with TV shows than movies imo
The Thing… the best
This here is the correct answer.
Mate, where is Firefly in that list?
I watched bits of it and enjoyed it. I’m not a massive Whedon fan though in the way that some people fawn over everything he does. It was good but it didn’t quite hit that Sci-Fi spot for me
Did you watch it before or after Serenity? The series isn’t great but it’s a thousand times more enjoyable if you’re introduced to it after getting to know everyone in the movie. It’s got potential and it shines through in places but ultimately I think if it wasn’t cancelled season one would be the part of the box set you have to power through to get to the good stuff.
Serenity came after the series. The first episode of the series (if watched in proper order) introduces all the characters quite well. It takes a few eps to really get going but it’s awesome. The movie had to sort of re-introduce people to the characters again because not everyone going to see the movie had seen the series.
I’m not a whedon fan either, Buffy and Angel held no interest for me. But this hooked me. I’m not sure exactly what it is but I love the unique genre melding, the script, characters, and the amazing chemistry between all the characters.
Yeah I know the movie came first. I just find that the movie is a lot better than the series. It has a great plot and it also does a better job of introducing the characters and actually doing something interesting with them. I really like the series but it’s flawed. The movie on the other hand is an amazing entry point to the world.
I actually feel the direct opposite. I love the series and have re-watched it countless times. You get to spend time with everyone during the series, whereas in the movie Book and Inara are essentially fan-service (though these characters were always kind of the odd-ones-out).
One of the things I actually love most about the series is that there’s no filler. Being cancelled in the first season means that everything you get is solid (I guess that entirely depends on your opinion on what you get, though).
thank you for finally giving a response about that movie and show that wasnt idiotic based on pure fandom or slam it for sucking. I feel the same, it was a “meh” feeling. A solid “yeah its ok”
I remember pandorum as being pretty good but it was a few years ago so not sure how it’s aged
Firefly and Serenity are in my top sci-fi movies and tv shows. Seen them way too many times to count.
Yeah, I think it’s time to bust out the Blu Rays for another watch through.
Fifth Element, Stargate and eXistenZ are some of my favourites. Edge of Tomorrow and Pacific Rim are both contenders for new additions to the upper tiers of my movie hierarchy.
District 9 and 2001: A Space Oddsey are my fave sci fi films, although it’s not a genre I’m all that into.
Moon is one of my absolute favourites!!! I have seen it so many times now, that it’s right up there for me along with Blade Runner and Bram Stoker’s Dracula in my holy trinity of awesome.
Event Horizon is brilliant – I’ve loved that movie from the moment I saw it. I’ll also put Blade Runner in there – even though it’s technically cyberpunk-noir, but I’ve got to fit it into any list I can. It’s sci-fi enough.
2001: A Space Odyssey, for obvious reasons.
Plan 9 from Outer Space for it’s sheer awesomeness, and The Day The Earth Stood Still (both the superlative original and surprisingly decent remake) are up there for me too.
Europa Report was a great movie too – definitely recommend it if you’re after something a little more focused and moody.
Overall, though, I think TV has done a better job at encapsulating sci-fi than film has. BSG, Stargate, The X Files and The Outer Limits have done a lot of good for sci-fi over the years 🙂
EDIT: How in the hell could I have forgotten the Alien movies??? All of em. I love each and every one. Except AVP 2 – I can’t handle that one. I actually like the first AVP a great deal.
Will check out Europa report.
For my tastes, the original Star Trek is great for sci go. Really great concepts like the Outer limits, just happens to star the same guy each episode.
People seem to get caught up on the corniness & can’t look past that to see how great it really is.
Yeah. I think one of the cornerstones of great sci-fi is world building, and while it’s possible to pull that off in a movie it really pays off on TV. I mean just look at what sprang from three episodes worth of expanding/retconning in the first season of SG-1.
I guess the catch is that TV shows often fall apart behind the scenes. You get stuff like Heroes where it was just a mess. The writers had no idea where they wanted to go. Then they went on strike. They were stuck with popular characters/actors they had no use for. They refused to move forward and kept trying to hold it down on it’s original premise of ordinary people with super powers, even though by season two pretty much none of the characters were still ordinary.
It’s also just really hard to write something on a season by season basis that adds up. Battlestar was stuck in a holding pattern for most of it’s run. Even when the shows are wildly successful like X-Files there’s no telling where it’ll end. Why eight seasons, a movie and another movie way later down the track? That’s days of story, and assuming someone could write that much content while maintaining a clear purpose, sense of direction, steady themes, etc they’ve still got to worry about getting Angel’ed and having to compress the end because it was cancelled early.
One of the few times I’ve seen it done well is Supernatural season 1-5. Somehow the teen hunk Scooby-Doo managed to be better written than the unlimited resources of Lost. It’s not strictly sci-fi but man, that’s an under rated show.
I tried to get into Supernatural, and really liked it, but I dunno, I stopped watching a little into Season 2. It’s definitely one I want to go back to! I also LOVED Being Human US – I gave it a go (and the UK version) purely out of boredom, and ended up hooked.
I still really enjoyed Heroes for it’s run. Season one was a perfect 10, and by the end it was a 6.5, maaaaybe a 7, but I still couldn’t stop watching. There are far better examples of a show going to shit than Heroes – shows like Glee and True Blood had knockout first season runs, but became more and more abhorrent as time went by.
I’m still cut about Angel too. Whedon’s best work by far, and it really didn’t end on a great note. Like The X Files and Buffy, I just cannot take a comic book continuation seriously. It’s TV format or nothing 🙂
They Live! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/
(You can’t get better than Rowdy Roddy Piper starring in an anti-consumer sci-fi classic)
The Day of the Triffids http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055894/
(With the opening idea totally stolen by The Walking Dead)
Iron Sky http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034314/
(Aussies, Moon Nazi’s, and an actual poignant ending, great film)
Oh man, I love me some sci-fi. Such a versatile genre. Some obvious big players and in no order…
Alien series
Gattaca
Blade Runner
2001
Children of Men
Terminator movies
District 9
Serenity
Sunshine
Close Encounters
Primer
Wall-E
Galaxy Quest
Minority Report
The Fountain
The Man from Earth
Coherence
Moon
Upstream Color
The Star Wars movies
The Star Trek movies
I could go on.
How did I forget Galaxy Quest!
Loved that one.
By Grabthar’s Hammer, you shall be avenged!
By Grabthar’s Hammer, what-a-savings…
By the sons of Worvan!
Galaxy Quest was so good!
Oh, and Logan’s Run. Even if the effects are a bit cheezy now, and the book is fantastic.
Definitely track down the book if you like dark SciFi, much meatier than the movie.
The Man who fell to Earth (proof David Bowie is an actual Alien)
Fantastic Planet (Great French 70s animation)
and of course Leslie Neilson in Forbidden Planet
On a long plane journey recently I saw Coherence, which I really enjoyed. It has a fairly small cast, and is entirely shot in and around a single house, but kept me interested as the story unfolded.
I’d like to watch it again, but it doesn’t seem to have come out in Australia yet: it seems to be doing the festival circuit still.
Contact! Sagan + Zemeckis = brilliance.
I will choose this place to mount my defense of The Chronicles of Riddick, namely the director’s cut. Crazy scope, solid world-building with interesting villains, amazing production design and a great cast. Give it a(nother) look!
Does the directors cut change the movie much? The original a bit of a convoluted mess with some neat set pieces.
It definitely feels better paced. There’s a whole subplot left out that hints at larger things. Even though it’s a little clumsy it still adds value. It also clears up the culmination of the big action set piece on the fire planet, which was edited to shit in the original release. I do agree it’s still a little clumsy, though I admire it for going all out.
The Matrix
the original alien film is still my favourite. Rewatched it recently and it’s amazing how such an old film holds up so well. I also caught a little of Alien resurection on foxtel on the weekend, it’s crazy how that movie from the 90s looks so dated and silly compared to the original.
While not an unknown set of movies it’s a little unexpected, but I actually like the Star Wars prequel movies. Phantom Menace is a bit hard to get through because the Pod race brings everything to a screaming halt, all three of them have some pretty major faults, they crap all over a lot of the EU stuff I love, and I would have done things differently given the chance but I still don’t hate them.
Pitch Black with Vin Diesel is pretty superlative though the Chronicles of Riddick is not great.
I, Robot, Bicentennial Man, Children of Men, District 9 are all favorites and I was surprised how much I enjoyed A.I by Stephen Spielberg though it’s pretty much a re-telling of Bicentennial Man.
I’m a big fan of Asimov’s books if it’s not obvious…
You see Foundation is getting a TV series?http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/jonathan-nolan-to-write-produce-isaac-asimovs-sci-fi-foundation-trilogy-as-series-for-hbo-wbtv-20141110?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Geez, that certainly will take some doing. I always found it odd that more Azimov hasn’t been adapted to film.
He has, always the robot stuff though. Hopefully they can pull this off. Such good books.
Oh wait, ‘more’ Asimov, durrr
Total Recall – Verhoeven version.
Starship Troopers
All the Verhoeven!
Whilst I like both these films, I never liked how he kept the name ‘starship troopers’ for the film he made, as his film was loosley based on the book at best (i’m rpetty sure he said he didn’t even read it…).
Luckily he improved that piece of garbage beyond measure.
No love for Elysium? I really enjoyed that one, a lot more than District 9 (the guy’s previous film).
Nah, I liked the message but not the execution.
it was ok.
I’m with you, I liked it more than district 9, which felt like it didn’t really go anywhere (and some bits just make no sense).
Elysium had a a really well designed world and some solid characters (that grew and changed thorughout the movie), but was a bit on the nose with the whole ‘class divide for no reason’ thing (but nowhere near as silly as snowpiercer/hunger games).
Yeah, District 9 left me feeling a bit wanting too.
I think both deserve a rewatch, to see if my opinions still hold.
Elysium smelt suspiciously like there was a lot of executive meddling behind the scenes. It has a decent enough core concept, but it’s kind of a mess.
I can add a few:
Triangle
The Machine
Splice
I really like this topic – I’m a big Sci-Fi fan and I’ve already seen a couple of titles I’ve missed so thanks guyz – keep ’em coming!
Eep, Splice. That got uncomfortable at the end.
Triangle as sci fi?
Aw man. ALL OF THESE. I’m going to name a few and then be sad/embarrassed that I didn’t think of more!
– Jurassic Park
– Solaris (not the Polanski version, either, bah)
– Moon
– Star Wars (real) trilogy
– The Fifth Element
– Wall•E
– Children of Men
– Terminator 2
– E.T.
– Attack The Block
I also have a big soft spot for the Men In Black series 😀
MiB, the first one, pure genuis.
I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton, but here goes:
Ghost in the Shell 1 & 2,
Cowboy Bebop (just like a long episode, really good),
Akira,
the various Neon Genesis movies,
Metropolis (the anime version, yet to see the Fritz Lang original),
A Clockwork Orange,
Gattaca,
Star Wars (the originals, not a big fan of the prequels),
District 9,
Chronicle (if you count it),
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
Serenity
Anything Riddick.
Snowpiercer had some interesting scenes, but was let down by plot holes, boring or undeveloped characters and (yet another) nothing ending. I really can’t stand lame endings, it sort of spoils what may have been good up until then.
My favourites would have to be
Star Wars (a new hope)
Aliens
Terminator 1+2
Predator, Predators
Total Recall
Elysium was ok, i liked the world design, it was just a bit obvious and heavy handed.
The Last Starfighter. Man I loved that movie as a kid, nit sure how well it stands up today though.
Sunshine had some good stuff but again the ending was a bit weird.
Event horizon was freaky.
The Last Starfighter still holds up IMO
Also you reminded me of another early 80s sci Fi – Innerspace
Omfg, yes! “The chip!” We had it on VHS… Watched it like 1000 times…
Flight of the navigator was a classic, too.
And The Running Man…
There are some great sci-fi films out there, like The Matrix, Serenity, the Star Wars OT (for sheer iconic value and soundtracks).
But my favourite, by a long, long, long way is Children of Men.
Have you read the book?
I owned it at one point, but I don’t think I ever read it. I think I decided it was almost certainly going to be one of those rare cases where the book would have no chance to measure up to the movie (like Shawshank Redemption).
Yeah. It’s an okay read, but it feels dated in its ideas of technology/politics (written in 1992, set in 2021), whereas the film is just so good. It’s just mildly futuristic and still feels very obtainable (not that you’d want to obtain that world… you know what I mean). So, skip the book 😉
Awesome. Good to know I made the right choice.
The main appeal for the film wasn’t so much the story (though it was compelling enough), and the characters were serviceable but simple. It was the film’s direction, the vision of the thing, the stunning long shots, the authentic effects, the subtle visual touches, this feeling of complete immersion in the world. Stuff that wouldn’t be in the book, no matter how well it was written.
The long shots are brilliant. Great film.
The
car scene when they’re attacked is easily one of the best and most memorable moments I’ve ever seen in a film. Amazing.Children of Men is cemented in my top five movies of all time, and that scene (and a few others) is the primary reason why.
I literally think about this movie almost weekly.
The scene where everyone stops fighting for a minute when they see the babyMy heart breaks for humanity.
Pretty much every movie that has been mentioned here.. But I ctrl+f and don’t see Oblivion? I really enjoyed it… Even with Tom Cruise in it..
Ooh god, I hated Oblivion. Haha, so much. And Tom Cruise wasn’t even the part I disliked the most. Haha, sorry!
Automata and Coherence are good recent ones.
Also, The Anomaly which had a cool premise but lacked execution, still worth a watch in my opinion.
The Last Starfighter. Cheesy but great fun, and the Death Blossom saves the day.
The Phantom Menace for its in-depth analysis of trade relations and… making ewoks look classy. (I kid, although I’m serious about The Last Starfighter, and somewhat serious about the ewok thing.)
The Unsleeping Eye is a 1973 science fiction novel by D. G. Compton. It was published in the United Kingdom as The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe in 1974 and was filmed by Bertrand Tavernier in 1980 as Death Watch, starring Harvey Keitel, Romy Schneider and Max von Sydow.
Recently re-released on DVD. A dying woman, in a world where no-one dies of illness, is followed around by a reporter with cameras implanted in his eyes. All watched live on T.V.
A must watch!
I love Dune forever, so many perfect and wonderful original ideas for its time. And The Fifth Element!!! 😀
Ah – I was wondering when someone was going to mention The Fifth Element. That movie had so much style. Always fun to watch.
I’ve only seen it once so far, but I think Interstellar is going to take the cake for me. It resonated with me in a way I don’t think I’ve felt from a film before. Unbelievably epic.
Iron Sky
Moon Nazis, President Sarah Palin, all of it is really rather brilliant 🙂A movie that feels like it was written by 4 different people without much in the way on consultation. The tone of that movie shifts more even more wildly than in Snowpiercer and that seems to be pretty much Bong Joon-Ho’s signature style.
Outlander and After Earth have similar feels…
The Man from Earth … that was a good movie…
Ender’s Game was a bit of a surprise… really enjoyed it… haven’t read the books so what concepts were touched on in the movie really struck a chord for my wife and I…
Pacific Rim and Robot Jox… corny 90’s D-Grade movie… tried to watch it again recently and struggled…
Battlefield Earth was cool… corny ending though…
The Hunger Games series are interesting… again, haven’t read the books…
Cloud Atlas was a favourite…
The Original StarGate Movie… Really looking forward to the Trilogy that their working on for “reboot”
Atlantis Animated movie…
Matrix, Animatrix
way too many to mention… I’ll pick a SciFi or Fantasy movie over “real” movies any day…
I saw Predestination earlier this year – the best Australian film I’ve seen in a while, and a great sci-fi film. Really great execution of a great Heinlein story (All you Zombies).
Dark City
Silent Running
Aliens
Predator
2001
Contact
Thank you for mentioning Dark City. made in Australia! Top movie. So bleak. So great.
…and so good the first time you see it – I intentionally made sure I knew nothing about it and it’s such a crazy ride.
I don’t let friends who haven’t seen it even look at the box if they’re going to watch it.
12 Monkeys
A Clockwork Orange
Alien
Wait no one has Guardians of the Galaxy?
I must profess my love for the Back to the Future Trilogy, and Ghostbusters
This.
Plus:
Aliens
Guardians of the Galaxy
Gravity
Serenity
Blade Runner
Empire Strikes Back
Interstellar was brilliant too
Because no one seems to have mentioned these film greats, I feel obliged to ensure they are included in this conversation:
Soylent Green
The Omega Man
Judge Dredd – the old one is a classic, but man that re-imagining was AWESOME (and graphic!)
also Demolition Man!
Twelve Monkeys
Close Encounters
The Abyss
The Fly
Videodrome (anything by Cronenberg)
They Live (Most John Carpenter stuff)
Escape from New York
etc.
Basically a spaceship in it has a safety net of three out of five stars for me. And it has to be really bad to only get three stars.
Agree with everything everyone has posted here ever.
One that hasn’t got a mention.
Cypher.
The future of industrial espionage was a bit of a mind blow. Worth a watch.
Only one I can think of that I can’t see in the comments is Natural City, a 2003 South Korean film. Borrows a lot of the setting from Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell, but uses it to tell a pretty good (if slightly unnerving) story about love and loss.
Back to the Future, The Matrix, Terminator 2, Aliens, Predator… pretty much everything!
As with a few above, my favorites have been mentioned. The only thing missing from the list is a tiny little indie flick (with big aspirations) called Monsters. Shot on zero budget and largely 2 actors, it’s one which didn’t get a lot of traction and totally deserves to.
Such a great road trip style sci-fi, one of my favourite, glad someone mentioned it.
I agree great movie. I noticed that there is a sequel coming out. It looks decidedly more hollywood though.
Boooo! If ever a movie didn’t need a sequel – especially one where the budget has a couple of extra zeros at the end – it’s Monsters.
Of the recent films, Cloud Atlas really did something special for me. Guardians of the Galaxy as well.
Everything else seems to have already been mentioned a lot, so I’ll just leave it at that
I can’t believe you only watched bits! It’s so good, I just finished watching it again the other day and I feel completely lost now without it. I’m not sure you can realise the awesome that is Firefly until you really watch it from start to finish.
Alien and Aliens. My two favorite movies ever.
Cocoon. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088933/
Oh yeah – I thought Coocoon The Return was really good too – even better in some respects
A boy and his dog
Quiet Earth
I really enjoyed Repo: The Genetic Opera, it is a horror scifi, plus it was fun watching Paris Hiltons face fall off. Have watched it a few times now.
A Scanner Darkly was interesting, wouldn’t say it was my favourite movie but still good.
Dark City is another of my favourites, but Blade Runner will always be number 1 for me
Close Encounters of the Third Kind – just brilliant, best film Spielberg has ever made IMO
Blade Runner
Moon
All of the ones so far mentioned but here are a few more:
* Batteries not included
* short circuit
* Red Planet
* The Cell
Short Circuit!! YES!
Number 5 is ALIVE!
Oh one I forgot to mention that I think is underrated a bit is Repo Men – I really enjoyed that one!
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Space Balls. Technically it’s a parody but it’s so good 🙂
I’ll also add the Star Trek movies – the two new “reboots” are lots of fun, but the others like Wrath of Khan and Generations and First Contact are all good viewing if you’re a fan.
As a kid, I really liked War Games (1983)- it’s very outdated now (hello dial up modems!) but the story of an out of control AI is certainly a sci fi trope.
And I quite liked the new Tron, if only for the awesome Daft Punk soundtrack.
First Contact. So good.
Planet of the Apes. The original, of course.
SHUT UP EVERYBODY!
Now, Aliens. Hands. Down. And Interstellar, when I finally get around to seeing it…