Tosy directed me to writer John Scalzi’s page. Scalzi has written The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies, now officially available for purchase in the US. 
The book is arranged in several interesting-sounding chapters, including The Science: the science (or lack thereof) in science fiction films.
He predicts that “the part of the book that’s going to get most people’s attention — and raise hackles — is The Canon, which features the 50 science fiction films I have deemed to be the most significant in the history of film. Note that ‘most significant’ does not mean ‘best’ or ‘most popular’ or even ‘most influential.’ Some of the films may be all three of these, but not all of them are — indeed, some films in The Canon aren’t objectively very good, weren’t blockbusters and may not have influenced other filmmakers to any significant degree. Be that as it may, I think they matter — in one way or another, they are uniquely representative of some aspect of the science fiction film experience.”
So, what films are in The Canon? Here, in alphabetical order, are “the 50 science fiction films you have to see before you die”:
(The ones I”ve seen are in italics:
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
Akira
Alien
Aliens
Alphaville
Back to the Future– in fact all three of them
Blade Runner-is my omission a cardinal sin? (Cardinal Sin- didn’t he used to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines?)
Brazil- had fully intended to one day, and it didn’t happen
Bride of Frankenstein
Brother From Another Planet– but I’ve seen a LOT of John Sayles movies
A Clockwork Orange– but I don’t plan to watch it AGAIN
Close Encounters of the Third Kind– I think I’ve seen both versions
Contact
The Damned
Destination Moon
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Delicatessen
Escape From New York
ET: The Extraterrestrial
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
The Fly (1985 version)
Forbidden Planet
Ghost in the Shell
Gojira/Godzilla
The Incredibles– so there, Hemby!
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version) – I saw the later version, too
Jurassic Park
Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
The Matrix
Metropolis
On the Beach
Planet of the Apes (1968 version)– I saw all 5 Apes movies at a drive-in in one night! Brutal.
Robocop
Sleeper– but then, I saw all of the Woody Allen pictures of that era
Solaris (1972 version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan– saw the first five films, none since
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back – I also saw VI, and I
The Stepford Wives– I HAVE to assume he means the original film, not the recent remake
Superman
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Thing From Another World
Things to Come
Tron
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
2001: A Space Odyssey
La Voyage Dans la Lune
War of the Worlds (1953 version)
Well, I’ve seen exactly half. So if I live to be 104, I’ll be sure to see the other 25.
