Science fiction is not particularly my favorite movie genre. I don’t dismiss it, but I’m not necessarily motivated to see films either.
And SOME of the films are, I’ve heard, monumental.
As part of my Lazy Summer Blogging series, here’s the first half of Rotten Tomatoes’ Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time.
A * indicates one of the paltry number of films I’ve actually seen.
The link in INTERSTELLAR is to my review.
100. A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001) – I actually thought to see this at the time. That will be a recurring theme.
99. SPLICE (2010) -barely remember it being advertised.
98. SIGNS (2002) – I guess this was one of the GOOD M. Night Shyamalan films
97. PACIFIC RIM (2013) – had no interest
96. PREDATOR (1987) – one of those Arnold films where you say, “You didn’t see THAT?” I probably had some comic book adaptation, though
95. SUNSHINE (2007) – don’t remember this at all
94. VIDEODROME (1983) – now this I remember being advertised, because director David Cronenberg was practically a god to FantaCo’s horror fans.
I should note that, in addition to selling comic books, FantaCo sold magazines about films, especially horror films, and even published books and magazines and comic books about the sub-genre. It wasn’t my thing, personally, but I became quite conversant about movies that I had never seen, just by reading about them.
* 93. STAR TREK III – THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984) – finally, a film I saw, and at the movies. I was emotionally invested.
92. WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) – the was the year when we had an infant; we missed LOTS of movies
91. JURASSIC WORLD (2015) – wasn’t interested
90. DREDD (2012) – I actually used to read the comic books, but wasn’t ready for on-screen “bombastic violence”
89. PROMETHEUS (2012) – didn’t need a “quasi-prequel to Alien”
*88. INTERSTELLAR (2014) – I agree that “its intellectual reach somewhat exceeds its grasp”
87. MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (1985) – probably saw bits and pieces of this on TV
86. ALIEN: COVENANT (2017) – nah
85. GATTACA (1997) – another “I thought about seeing that”
84. THE THING (1982) – also in the “I was aware of it because of FantaCo”
83. PAPRIKA (2006) – had not heard of this
82. TOTAL RECALL (1990) – another Arnold movie I’ve seen bits and pieces of on TV
81. METROPOLIS (2002) – don’t remember if this played around here
80. PREDESTINATION (2015) – not remembering this at all
79. THEY LIVE (1988) – another John Carpenter film from my FantaCo days
78. STAR TREK VI – THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991) – after the terrible Star Trek V movie, I never saw another Star Trek film until the first reboot; I need to catch up on thesest
77. SERENITY (2005) – came out in the new baby period
76. THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976) – on the list of the films I want to see
*75. STAR WARS: EPISODE VI – RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) – a suitable ending of that first trilogy
74. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011) – saw the violence of the trailer and opted out
73. STAR WARS: EPISODE III – REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005) – after loathing Star Wars I, never gave II or II a chance
*72. WESTWORLD (1973) – very effective. No, I haven’t seen the more recent iteration.a
71. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) – another John Carpenter film from my FantaCo era
70. LOS CRONOCRÍMENES (TIMECRIMES) (2007) – don’t know it
*69. ALTERED STATES (1980) – I LOVED this movie at the time, though I have not seen it since. It “attacks the viewer with its inventive, aggressive mix of muddled sound effects and visual pyrotechnics.”
68. TURBO KID (2015) – don’t recall hearing about this
67. SUPER 8 (2011) – yet another “I was going to see that
66. AKIRA (1988) – thought it’s animated, I sensed it was too violent for my taste
65. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016) – not remembering this
64. TWELVE MONKEYS (12 MONKEYS) (1995) – considered seeing this and didn’t for some reason
63. THE ABYSS (1989) – not the only James Cameron film on this list I haven’t seen
62. AVATAR (2009) – this one, for instance, only the #2 all-time domestic grossing film (and #15, even accounting for inflation)
*61. ROBOCOP (1987) – I found it a “surprisingly smart sci-fi flick that uses ultraviolence to disguise its satire of American culture.”
*60. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) – my favorite Star Trek movie, and the one that was most parodied. “KHAAAAAAN!”
*59. THE MATRIX (1999) – I was glad to have seen this, not enough to see the sequels, mind you.
58. STAR TREK BEYOND (2016) – I hadn’t seen the previous film when this came out; I’ll probably catch it sometime.
57. THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) – I know it’s a YA favorite, but I suspect it’s too violent for the Daughter’s taste, and probably mine
56. ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) – from the Shaun of the Dead people, but I don’t know it
55. MOON (2009) – don’t know it at all
54. THX 1138 (1971) – I suppose I OUGHT to see George Lucas’ feature
*53. PLANET OF THE APES (1968) – I was really taken by this film when it first came out, even before I knew Rod Serling had written the screenplay from Pierre Boule’s novel.
52. GALAXY QUEST (1999) – I had intended to see this but did not
51. MAD MAX (1979) – I’ve seen bits of this on TV; looked intriguing
Meh, 9 of 50. The next fifty next week; I’ve seen a lot more of them.
I’m curious if when they mean “Metropolis (2002),” they’re taking about either a 2002 restoration of the original 1920’s Fritz Lang silent film, or whether they’re talking about a Japanese anime that came out around that time and was also based on the 1920’s film.