Top 25 Sci-fi movies/TV shows

[Hinton]

Entertainment Weekly came out with a list of the top 25 sci-fi movies and TV shows from the past 25 years (thus cutting out movies like Star Wars and shows like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone).

Here is their list:

1. THE MATRIX (1999)

2. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2003-Present)

3. BLADE RUNNER (1982)

4. THE X-FILES (1993-2002)

5. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)

6. BRAZIL (1985)

7. E.T. (1982)

8. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987-1994)

9. ALIENS (1986)

10. THE THING (1982)

11. LOST (2004-Present)

12. BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

13. THE TERMINATOR/ TERMINATOR 2 (1984 /1991)

14. CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)

15. FIREFLY/SERENITY (2002/2005) Yes!!

16. TOTAL RECALL (1990)

17. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)

18. HEROES (2006-Present)

19. STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)

20. STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (2003-2005)

21. FUTURAMA (1999-2003)

22. QUANTUM LEAP (1989-1993)

23. DOCTOR WHO (1963-Present)

24. GALAXY QUEST (1999)

25. V: THE MINISERIES (1983)

Agree? Disagree?

Some movies/shows that other people thought should be on the list:

Farscape

Babylon 5

Stargate: SG1

12 Monkeys

Dune (1984 version)

Minority Report

Ghost in the Shell

The Fifth Element

Dark City

Independence Day

Tron

Men in Black

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Donnie Darko

Jurassic Park

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine/Voyager

[goblyn13]

The Matrix was good but i'm not sure i'd place it at number 1, Tron I definitely think deserves to be i nthe top 25, and while the 1984 version was awesome the proble mwas that the theatrical release was so disjointed that unless you had read the books you don't really have a solid idea of what all is going on. And as far as the V mini-series goes they should include both the first and second together as a whole.

[Wren]

I'm pretty incredulous that B5 doesn't make the top 25. Not only is it super SF, but it's a feat I don't expect to see repeated again (due to the way TV is made), a novel for television. Leaving off Farscape seems pretty lame too. Both seem more innovative/significant than Back to the Future or Quantum Leap, which are fun but not as special.

[matty1001]

Red Dwarf should definitely be on there!

I know it's a comedy but it does base everything on scientific elements.

[demonherald]

I agree with Matty and Wren for me Farscape and Red Dwarf both deserve a place.Good to see Firefly up there...

At the risk of exposing my crap taste in films I also would have liked to have seen

Pitch Black and chronicles of Ridick...great fun.

Equilibrium

existenz

Heroes

and where is Predator......??

I'm sick of seeing lost do well in these polls might be just me it started off great but developed into a shambling "we're making money so keep writing" type job

[supervike]

I have to agree about the Chronicles of Riddick and Pitch Black....they are very well done Sci-fi movies...but i can almost excuse them for not being on the list.

But no 12 Monkeys OR 5th Element? Dark City? Come on, these are fantastic and cutting edge Sci-fi...very original, and very well done.

I do love the fact that Battlestar Galactica has done so well on the list...I absolutely love that show! Never saw it in its original run, or even bothered the new series on the Sci-Fi network in the commercial TV run, but got them all through Netflix. GREAT GREAT stuff!!

Lastly, and maybe this is heretical to some of you, but I just don't 'get' Bladerunner. I mean its got all the qualities I'd love to see in a sci-fi movie, but I don't think I've ever made it all the way through it without nodding off. The pacing of that movie is incredible bad!

[Ritual]

Lists like these are completely pointless, I think. Compiling a list out of something that is completely subjective becomes even more uninteresting than a bunch of personal top-25 lists. The uninterestingness of a compiled list like this is definitely bigger than the sum of the uninterestingnesses of its parts.

BTW, did I hear someone diss Bladerunner? Burn the witch!!! :motz:

[supervike]

Lists like these are completely pointless, I think. Compiling a list out of something that is completely subjective becomes even more uninteresting than a bunch of personal top-25 lists. The uninterestingness of a compiled list like this is definitely bigger than the sum of the uninterestingnesses of its parts.

BTW, did I hear someone diss Bladerunner? Burn the witch!!! :motz:

well, I do slightly disagree....Of course they are pointless, but it is interesting to see what falls on these lists, if only to give myself an idea of what to check out!

I'll have to give Bladerunner another go! I've tried to like it, I really have....I even bought the DVD (it was on sale cheap, and I hadn't seen it for a looong time). But maybe now that I have more of a 'sci-fi' mindset than I have in the past, I may enjoy it....

[matty1001]

I almost shouted in horror when Alien wasn't on the list, then realised that would be longer than 25 years ago. But they have got Aliens on to make up for it. (But that wasn't half as good as the first one IMO)

[Hinton]

Of course lists like this are pointless; they're still fun, though. There are some movies on the list that I don't think should be there and some that aren't that I think should be. It's kind of fun (for me, anyway) to see what others think.

I mean, Riddick in the top 25 for me? No way. Just like Vike doesn't think too highly of Bladerunner (What?!?!? Are you kidding me?? - BTW, Vike: get the original version; not that "Director's Cut" crap), I'm not a fan of Vin Diesel or the Riddick movies. E.T. wouldn't make my top 25 list because I haven't seen it.

DH mentioned Equilibrium, which I think is a great movie and would probably make my top 25, as would The Fifth Element.

The best part about this list: none of the Star Wars "prequels" made the list. Sorry if that offends anyone, but those movies were bad.

[Ritual]

It's kind of fun (for me, anyway) to see what others think.

Yeah, but my point is that a list like this one is really NOBODY's list. It's a statistical product based on a large number of people's personal views. It would be more interesting (or at least less uninteresting : ) to see a bunch of PERSONAL lists.

[Illustrange]

there are several problems with this list.

1. you can in no way treat scifi movies and series as if the same.

2. children of men is a good intelligent movie, however when I'd rate scifi movies Im looking a little beyond *intelligent* Id want the epicness of movies to count for something too.. basically meaning, while children of men is definitely a good movie, I didnt see it as a good scifi movie, as the scifi elements are well.. a bit lacking. it has no wild theories, no epic events, locations, *fluff* nothing sparkles.. and it isnt that original either, there are many lowbudget scifi films revolving around the same concept, it also wasnt a benchmark in scifi history as it didnt and wont really influence the future of the genre.

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind has the same reasoning, but goes a bit beyond it, I dont think you can see that as a scifi movie period.

I miss spiderman the movie in there, while in a personal list it wouldnt even reach a top 25, I think it was a very important benchmark for the genre (tough specifically the superhero genre.) it did what the xmen movies failed at, it revived superhero interests to the general public, without it I doubt a series as heroes would have been as succesfull.

I think ghost in the shell can be higher, eventough its anime and not a movie, it has put a footprint on science fiction beyond it, and I think can be considered among the most influental non-acted movies, together with akira.

jurassic park really is a more important movie than some people deem it to be, as it set both a new standard in technology but also less mentioned but much more impactfull it set a new standard in hyping and marketting, single handedly reviving a more global interest not only in dinosaurs but also any type of *monster* .. also changing how specific dinosaurs were envisioned(all the books I had prior to that movie showed velociraptors as longer beaked, skinnier and with feathered necks )

also I think dune should be in the top 5 but thats personal taste in the end I really doubt its importance. but it should be in the top 25 for sure.

[r2-j1]

Why in the world is Eternal Sunshine on that list? I mean I love the movie, but I certainly wouldn't call it sci fi. Granted the memory wipe technology lends it a little of those elements, but not enough to attach that label IMO.

There are definitely some worthy pieces to not make that list.

[matty1001]

Of course it's sci-fi. The film is fiction based on a scientific concept.

[supervike]

Like I said before, I can understand the Riddick movies not making the list...and I am not a fan of Vin Diesel either, but these movies are better than I would've given them credit for.

Poor Equilibrium got lost in the 'matrix' as they both came out at about the same time. Equilibrium was marketed almost as a knock off of the movie.

You are dead on about the Star Wars prequels. They aren't completly unreedemable, but they pale in comparision to the originals. The third prequel was probably the best.

EDIT....I just realized RETURN OF THE JEDI came out in 1983...that qualifies it as 'within the last 25 years'....That is much better than some on the list!

As far as Dr. Who....urg!! While I do like the newer ones with Christopher Eccleston (sp) I cannot make it through the older ones...just too cheesy for me! (i know that is blasphemous as well!)

[Wren]

While I agree that Jurassic Park and Eternal Sunshine are in truth science fiction, and agree with the points made about JP's importance, I probably wouldn't have considered them for a list like this personally, for the feeling that they're not science fictiony enough. Or maybe I more mean their SFness is disguised well enough to be palatable to the general public without them really thinking of it as SF.

I'm waffling back and forth on Red Dwarf. I think it's absolutely brilliant and a personal favourite, just trying to decide if it's list material.

[Ritual]

...(i know that is blasphemous as well!)

Burn the witch!!! :motz:

Well, honestly, haven't seen Dr Who... so I couldn't say really. Just saw the opportunity for a bonfire, that's all!

[Avelorn]

Why army of 12 monkeys is not on the list is a big mystery to me.

Equilibrium... hm. Never understood the hype of that movie. Same with V for vendetta. The trouble I had with both I guess because people mentioned the word "deep" and how they really "made you think". They were both pretty shallow action sci-fi flicks. Expectations not reached for me there. I had no expectations for Matrix and it rocked my world back then so definately a number one for me too.. I haven't seen all series/movies you mention though.

Some reviewers here in Sweden called Matrix "high-school philosophical (degoratory)" and "giant holes in the story is effectively covered by the sfx". That was one of those times I contemplated writing angry letters to the paper.

I think a discussion of what makes sci-fi will be a long one. I mean if we are talking... "hard

sci-fi" Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind is far more sci-fi then Star wars (actually it's quite spot on) because it deals with something that might be a possibility and even in largely a scientifically correct way (how we form memories and how they are stored etc.)

[Ritual]

Some reviewers here in Sweden called Matrix "high-school philosophical (degoratory)" and "giant holes in the story is effectively covered by the sfx". That was one of those times I contemplated writing angry letters to the paper.

Why? Ok, "giant holes" is perhaps an exaggeration (at least if we're talking about the first Matrix film here...), but it's not exactly an airtight story. I don't mind, though, since it's a great action film. But I have a little hard seeing it as some sort of mindblowing philosophical revelation.

[matty1001]

The first one did have a lot of holes. But fortunately they were (or at least most of them) were patched up in the second and third film.

Alot of people dismissed the second and third films, but I loved them, you had to watch the 3 as one long film and it made sense. Although the first was the only film which could be viewed on its own and still make sense.

Plus they had Monica Belluci in. And she looks mighty fine.

[Ritual]

What I meant with "holes" is not necessarily things that aren't explained, but things that seems wrong or contradictive. I can live with stories where not everything is explained in detail. That can even make something more interesting than a story where every single little detail is explained and pointed out to the viewer so that nothing is left to the intellect or imagination. When things don't add up, contradict each other or feel wrong in some other way, though, then it's a sign of a poor script IMO.

In the first Matrix film lots of things are left unexplained, but the film doesn't suffer from that in most cases. When they try to "patch things up" in the other two films they make a lot of things feel wrong to me.

[thewartoad]

I think movies like Dune (1984), Tron and Heavy Metal (cartoon early 80's) should have been in the top 25! And who thinks Jurassic Park is sci-fi?

[Avelorn]

What were the holes in the first Matrix (the one I was talking about)? Meaning what was wrong and contradicitive?

Mindblowing philosophically.. hm. I don't think I would view it as such now as I did 1999. But that's because I've actually read philosphy since and contemplated the issues raised. Still it's incredibly neat walkthrough over the philosophic history and major issues. + the name symbolism etc. etc.

The problem with the 2nd and 3d was that what they were hinting in the first they said straight up and down in the sequels. It was like "hey people didn't notice the subtle nods to philosphic history in the first one so we have to scale it up a bit." And what was left to the imagination in the first was put on the plate. I remember I had a great time thinking that ghosts and such were just bugs in the system etc. But when they did just that with the flying banshees.. it just rang false somewhere. However they had some brilliant points as well.

I have to rewatch them all. Long time since I saw them.

EDIT: why would Jurrasic park not be a sci-fi?

[Nathan Caroland]

Loved most of the shows here, not that I give a whoop one way or another in what order they showed up and quite a few on there that I would have put there myself as well to be honest.

Still, something that I found that I really enjoyed was that Serenity movie that came out a couple years ago. Think I've watched it two or three times now and have really enjoyed it. I also keep seeing a lot of ya'll and others going on about the box set. Had a gift card and saw the set on sale on Amazon the other day so I went ahead and bought the box set and I'll finally get to see what the full hooplah is all about.

Only one season?

[Hinton]

Still, something that I found that I really enjoyed was that Serenity movie that came out a couple years ago. Think I've watched it two or three times now and have really enjoyed it. I also keep seeing a lot of ya'll and others going on about the box set. Had a gift card and saw the set on sale on Amazon the other day so I went ahead and bought the box set and I'll finally get to see what the full hooplah is all about.

Only one season?

Yep. 14 episodes (15 if you count the episode "Serenity" - which was suppose to be the pilot episode - as two).

Definitely a great, great show that was killed far before its time.