What if we could fly into space? What would we find? What would alien life be like? What if they came to Earth? Would they be benevolent or hostile? What if there is an entire civilization of space-faring aliens?
What if we could invent a synthetic human being? Would it be really "alive"? Would it feel emotion? Would it even be self-aware? What if it decided it was superior to human beings? What's to stop it from turning on us?
What if society evolves in dangerous new directions? What if books are purposefully burned to keep the masses ignorant? What if overpopulation forces us to turn to other food sources? What if emotions are killed off completely? What if we could brainwash the citizens to be obedient and benevolent? What if we could turn every human being into a slave?
What if the day finally comes when the world as we know it is gone? What if nuclear war renders the Earth inhospitable? What if sentient machines decide to rid the world of humanity? What if aliens decide they want our planet? What if a plague raises the dead? What if evolution naturally causes some other race of beings to become superior? What would life be like after the apocalypse? Would civilization survive? Would human brutality prevail?
What if we could travel back in time? What would the future look like? What if there are extraterrestrials beneath the sea? What if aliens or machines look exactly like us? What if a real transporter beam is invented? What if history is different? What's up with crop circles?
The questions become endless, as you can see. Thus, the possibilities become endlessly imaginative, thought-provoking, and dynamic. Sci-fi is such a broad field overall that it can't be quantified that easily; at this point, sci-fi has branched out into the realms of pure fantasy, horror, romance, and even generic action and adventure. In spite of that, I found this to be a hard list to compile; where does one draw the line between sci-fi and everything else?
I determined that all the films on this list are best judged in strict "sci-fi" terms, as opposed to judging a film as horror, judging a film as a comedy, and so on. I tried to make it so that every film here will present a bold "what if" scenario, and would go on to portray staggering implications, or at least present a imaginative or fantastic universe. All films here are ranked not only as favorites of mine, but also in how deep or how good of a sci-fi picture I feel it is, or in how awe-inspiring its vision is. As my favorite genre, I had to pick through hundreds of quality and fun pictures to figure this list out; as it is, I think it's quite definitive, and most of these are must-sees for other sci-fi enthusiasts.
So here it is, Al's Top 100 Favorite Sci-Fi Movies! I hope you'll give them all a try, and enjoy them as much as I do.
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100: Mission to Mars
What If: A martian colony is wiped out, so a rescue mission is dispatched to find survivors and solve one of the greatest mysteries of them all.
The Film: I personally always enjoyed this film, even though most critics and audiences don't. The special effects are cool, naturally. I won't deny that the film is slow, has screwy dialogue, and has one or two stupid parts. But, I enjoy watching the mission unfold through peril and mystery, and when the final reveal happens, I always thought that it was a pretty interesting concept. The film is probably one of my biggest sci-fi guilty pleasures, because I find its spectacle and ideas interesting.
My score: 3.5/5
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99: The Running Man
What If: An escaped convict becomes the star of reality game show, where criminals run through a deadly labyrinth to try and gain their freedom.
The Film: Leave it to Stephen King to come up with a future so bleak and violent. Based on his novel, this film features a really interesting concept, which lays the groundwork for some thrilling gladiatorial combat scenes and chases. It's not a perfect picture by any means; it's dated, a bit cheesy, and pacing is a little screwy. I also can't deny that I enjoy other death-sport movies, like Death Race and Rollerball, a little better. But, it's still a fun movie, and a must-see for this specific subgenre.
My score: 3.5/5
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98: Pitch Black
What If: A starship crashes on a desolate planet. When a total eclipse blankets the planet in darkness, nocturnal creatures rise up to feast, and the survivors have to rely on an escaped murderer to save them.
The Film: This is it: the film that introduced us all to Richard B. Riddick, played with a sense of savage badassery by Vin Diesel. For half of the film, Riddick would seem like the main villain, but once the monsters come up, he becomes one of the coolest antiheroes of recent sci-fi lore. It is a neat story, seeing how a monster is relied on to fight monsters, twisting morality around to craft the fundamentals of a character that would go on to star in two more films (and a cartoon, and two video games). Even though I enjoy the sequels a bit more than Pick Black, this film is the most original and has a truly dark and unique vision.
My score: 3.5/5
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97: Escape From New York
What If: In the future, New York becomes a walled-off penitentiary. When the President's plane crash-lands in the heart of it, Snake Plissken is forced to infiltrate the city and rescue him.
The Film: I've always felt this was a pretty stiff, dry, and slow-moving picture, but the premise is a really cool idea. There is action to be had, and the main character is the epitome of cool, but the story overall offers a bleak dystopian glimpse at a future where the government solves its problems by trying to bottle up chaos. The film has its moments, but is best seen for its concept.
My score: 3.5/5
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96: Titan A.E.
What If: The Earth is destroyed, but a band of surviving humans and aliens set out to find a lost starship that could create a new Earth.
The Film: I was blown away when I saw the film's trailer and saw the Earth destroyed. I didn't even realize that this was an animated film at the time. It's not all kid's stuff though; it is a neat story with some heavy-duty undertones, and there is a smart revelation made towards the end. The visuals are pretty slick and highly imaginative, and there is plenty of action to be had. It's a fun space-aged adventure, but with a solid and invoking story.
My score: 4/5
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95: THX 1138
What If: It's a bizarre future where everybody's bald, they wear tags on their ears, they all have numbers for names, they're watched and controlled all the time...and one of them tries to escape!
The Film: George Lucas took his original student film and expanded it into this feature-length picture, with an actual narrative. His visuals are as striking as ever; the world of THX-1138 is a crazy sterile environment that's as dystopian as they come. It's like a compendium of everything you may have read in stories like 1984. There's not much to the characters, but it's interesting to watch them move (and eventually race) through this cold, mechanical world that Lucas created.
On home video, a director's cut is available with updated special effects, but I think most viewers prefer the unaltered theatrical cut (just like with Star Wars).
My score: 3.5/5
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94: Ender's Game
What If: Gifted children are rounded up and put through battle training, to eventually wage war against alien invaders.
The Film: Despite a few flaws, the film is a fairly solid adaptation of Orson Scott Card's novel, capturing the same events and presenting them on-screen in a visually-awesome way. The film runs smoothly and is entertaining. It may not have quite as much pathos as the novel, but the story overall presents a fascinating tale of deception and counter-deception, with lots of cool zero-G training and space battles.
My score: 4/5
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93: Red Planet
What If: A mission is sent to Mars to figure out why stuff isn't growing there.
The Film: There are parts of this film that seem ridiculous, but some of its more unbelievable moments are explained as the film goes on. Everything else is played out pretty realistically, on a level not too far off from Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The film has its share of thrills, as the characters confront a berserk robot, the elements, and each other. Some of the SFX are cool, and the film tries its best to dig up relevant themes of spirituality. The only real problems are that the pacing is not always perfect, and the cast can be a hit-or-a-miss.
My score: 3.5/5
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92: Sunshine
What If: The sun starts to die out, so a mission is sent out to catalyze its reactions.
The Film: Like most space operas, Sunshine runs a bit slow. In Danny Boyle's hands, however, the film has a lot of style, and it gets pretty intense and harrowing in the end. The finale might throw off a lot of viewers, given that so many weird things suddenly happen and the tone shifts dramatically. However, the film does invoke the primal mythological aspects of the sun, turning it into a literal enemy. With some philosophical implications and its slick spaceship designs, Sunshine does have its bright moments.
My Score: 3.5/5
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91: Soldier
What If: A guy raised from birth to be a perfect soldier is literally thrown out with the trash when a new breed of soldiers is adopted by the military. He winds up on a garbage planet, living peacefully among scavengers, but must protect them when the new soldiers move in and start killing everybody.
The Film: It's not a particularly big standout film, but among Paul W.S. Anderson's repertoire, it's one of his better films. It has plenty of cool action and decent, imaginative SFX. Its concepts are pretty interesting. Kurt Russell's performance is perfectly nuanced and touching as a futuristic soldier out of his element. Who knows, there could be a future where armies are raised, bred, or even cloned to be brutal killing machines, and could be disposable. The film asserts that such a soldier could still have a human soul, full of empathy and free will. Such pathos keeps this film from falling into realms of mediocrity, and it is ultimately touching to see this hardened killing machine becoming a hero.
My score: 3.5/5
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90: The Fly (1986)
What If: An inventor creates telepods. After testing the machine on himself, a fly inadvertently transports with him, altering his DNA in disturbing ways.
The Film: In this update on the original 1958 film, David Cronnenberg emphasizes the terror of mutating flesh and the loss of humanity as a result of the transporter technology. The story doesn't have the same profound revelations as its predecessor, but the emotions are ramped up significantly, as is the bloodshed. It's a gross film at times, but it underscores the horrifying implications of the technology and its potential effects on the human body.
My score: 4.5/5
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89: Predator
What If: Commandos wind up fighting an alien hunter.
The Film: The story is as simple as they come, with one-sided tough-guy characters who serve little more than plasma-cannon fodder. The Predator is one cool creature, decked-out with his own cloaking device, high-tech weapons, wicked blades, various forms of vision, and even a powerful self-destruct device. The film is fundamental action at its best, often with some gnarly bloodshed, and the film dishes out enough one-liners to be consistently amusing and quotable. It's not a deep or insightful film, but who's to say that aliens aren't already coming to Earth for the occasional safari? They are some ugly mothers...
My score: 4/5
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88: Independence Day
What If: Everybody wakes up on July 4th and finds UFOs everywhere.
The Film: I was blown away back in 1996. At its time, it was a massive spectacle that had never been seen before on such a scale. The mass destruction is awesome, and a lot of it holds up to this day. The big-scale battles are awesome. The film ties together many elements of Ufology, and handles the political and militaristic actions creditably. It's pretty much the same story as War of the Worlds, but it's still a perfectly-entertaining blockbuster with heart, humor, and loads of action.
My score: 4.5/5
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87: Enemy Mine
What If: One human fighter pilot and one alien fighter pilot wind up stranded on a hostile planet, and have to find a way to work together in order to survive.
The Film: It's a bit of a cheesy and sappy film, but a merit-able sci-fi flick nonetheless. It boasts some really cool special effects and paints some fantastic planetscapes before our eyes. The story's a pretty mixed affair, but the whole thing serves as a solid platform to relay themes of racism and tolerance, as the characters learn to overcome their prejudices and become close allies. The finale offers the strongest thematic parallels, as the main character struggles through the actual enemy mine to salvage a legacy. The film definitely has its moments.
My score: 4/5
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86: The Andromeda Strain (1971)
What If: In a high-tech underground facility, scientists study a recovered satellite that crashed to Earth...containing alien life!
The Film: This original film, from the original book by Michael Crichton, presents a really original premise that's handled with equal amounts of realism and thrills. The suspense is palpable as the scientists make their harrowing discoveries and straddle the edge of self-destruction. The film looks really slick and stylish, and uses a really funky music score. It can be a bit long, but the film is one of the most creditable pictures on this list, and it is one interesting story. The ideas are explored with respect and detail, and that makes it a must-see for sci-fi fans.
My score: 4/5
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85: Elysium (2013)
What If: A dude on Earth suffers an accident, and he has to reach the space station Elysium to heal himself, and possibly every other unfortunate person stuck on the planet.
The Film: Was rather poorly received at its release, but I thought this movie rocked. The action is hard-hitting, loaded with loud gunfights and incredible hardware. It's also a film that's loaded with ideas; the worldbuilding is really cool, with the scuzzy Earth settings and the immaculate Elysium space station serving as stark parallels to each other, much like the Battle Angel anime. With this setup, the film explores rich thematic territory regarding class warfare and the healthcare system; I can't say I necessarily agree with the film's conclusions, but it is great to see a modern film with modern issues.
My score: 4/5
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84: Solaris (Solyaris)
What If: A scientist is shuttled to a space station orbiting planet Solaris, only to find his dead wife brought back to life!
The Film: This original Russian film sure is long, and frankly, it might be one of the most boring films I know of. However, there is something oddly mesmerizing about it. It's composed in a very bizarre and surreal fashion, often times challenging our perception of what's real and what isn't. It only gets more bizarre when the guy reaches the space station, where a number of intellectual questions are dug up. In the end, I question whether anything in this film is "real," and whether it's all in the character's head, or if Solaris is a real place. If nothing else though, the film does provide a stark contrast between the natural Earth and the cold, lifeless space station; it implies that human beings might not be quite at home in outer space.
My score: 4/5
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83: Battle Royale
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| The latest fashion craze of Japan: explosive neck collars. |
What If: When the youth of Japan becomes too unruly to properly discipline, the Battle Royale program is implemented, where teenagers are rounded up and dropped off on an island to fight each other...to the death!
The Film: The premise of Battle Royale is as messed-up as they come. The film doesn't shy away from showing classmates, friends, and lovers murdering each other under the eyes of their captors. One after another, the film goes through each character and gives their predicaments real weight as they struggle through this dystopian nightmare. With a poetic tone and liberal bloodshed, the film truly exposes the horror of a future where discipline goes too far. Not even The Hunger Games was as harrowing as this.
My score: 4/5
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82: Dark City
What If: A guy wakes up with amnesia, and is baffled to learn that he has psychic powers, and there are strange guys in black going around changing things.
The Film: This is a stylish and moody thriller that often times looks and feels like a film noir mystery, but pulls out a few bizarre sci-fi ideas that pushes the story into realms of brilliance. The ending has some cool rip-roaring action, but most of the film hinges on its premise and the way it unfolds (and it unfolds the best in the director's cut). The whole point of it is the search for the human soul; the Strangers may never be able to figure out it, but the main character does, and maybe we can too.
The director's cut can be seen on home video, which omits the opening narration (which was a bit of a spoiler to begin with, so many viewers prefer this version so they can figure out the story for themselves).
My score: 4/5
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81: Timecrimes (Los CronocrÃmenes)
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| Yes, that is the plotline. |
The Film: It looks like an average slasher film, but the time travel angle brilliantly takes the plot and ties it up in a complex knot. The film goes through some seriously mind-bending twists, until everything comes in full circle by its end. It's easily one of the most sublime time-traveling films available, and it still has enough thrills to keep it fresh and grisly.
My score: 4.5/5
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To be continued...
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