Guess what?? It’s the Weekend Five’s 2nd Anniversary! What’s that one, cotton?
Got a Top 5 Best Sci-fi Films?
Not Five’s favorite genre, so she had to borrow from literature and television. You can too.
5. Twilight Zone (1959-64): A sci-fi television series. See the rationalization for #4.
4. Alien (1979): A sci-fi horror movie. Isn’t most horror science fiction, and vice versa? I smell a dissertation!
3. Doctor Who (2005-present): A sci-fi hero. A 900-year-old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. It’s a British thing. And the last two have been Hubbas.
2. EPICAC (Kurt Vonnegut, 1950): A sci-fi short story featured in his Welcome to the Monkey House. A computer plays Cyrano for, then falls in love with, his caretaker’s indifferent girlfriend. Five discovered it in a My Weekly Reader/Scholastic Books’ collection called First Love. Shut up.
1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert Heinlein, 1966): A sci-fi novel that was required reading in my Foundations of Politics class. The professor wanted us to remember Heinlein’s concept of “Tanstaafl” (“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”) before we tackled Rousseau & Machiavelli. In such ways are baby conservatives birthed.
Print
Digg
StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
Facebook
Yahoo! Buzz
Twitter
Google Bookmarks
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
MSN Reporter
MySpace
Orkut
Ping.fm
Reddit
RSS
Slashdot
Technorati
Tumblr
Webnews.de
1: The Empire Strikes Back
2: Star Trek Four, The Voyage Home (THERE BE WHALES HERE!)
3: Alien
4: Aliens
5: Roller Ball, James Caan….
Twilight Zone was also a movie. Never thought either one of them was SiFy though.
Speaking of Science Fiction though, Rod Serling co-wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes…if you couldn’t tell by the ending.
Forbidden Planet
Gattaca
Planet of the Apes (original)
Moon
Star Trek Wrath of Khan
A movie that would have been much better had they followed the book, Starship Troopers
Yay, Doctor Who!
I am currently knitting a dishcloth with the TARDIS on it.
Yeah, I know.
1. Gattaca
2. The Matrix
3. Dark City
4. I thought Star Trek: TNG hit its stride with the Borg episodes including the movie First Contact.
5. Moon
Floyd, you are so right about STTNG. The season-ending cliffhanger episode when Picard was captured and turned into Locutus, and Riker coolly orders the Enterprise to fire on the Borg ship, and then the screen goes black, was when I suddenly realized, dang, I had just finished watching some all-time classic Science Fiction storytelling, and this new version of Star Trek actually matters to me on its own terms.
Sadly, it seems like no time at all passed after that before the show jumped the shark with the Galactic Speed Limit episode. You know the one I mean? The one where some future-greenpeace-ecoterrorist scientist showed that warp speed travel was wearing out the fabric of space and so the Federation ordered all space ships to go no faster than warp 3? Where’s Sammy Hagar when you really need him.
I do remember that one jack… and whole-heartedly agree… Warp 3? When did Jimmy Carter’s disembodied head become Galactic Chief?
Of course, whenever the plot required them to go faster, it was no problem.
Always nice to see Dark City love.
I was force to watch STNG. All my friends did. It didn’t make me barf.
5. The Star Trek movie in San Fran with the whale.
4. “Forbidden Planet”
3. “Back to the Future” No “I” necessary. There are no others.
2. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956 original)
1. “War of the Worlds” (Wells’ book, Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation and the 1953 film)
Oh, don’t be such a BTTF sequels snob. II’s alternate timeline story was pretty damn cool, even with Lorraine’s horrendous take fitties.
I think they were intended to be horrendous.
I’m either embarrassed or proud to say I never saw any of the sequels. Does Biff win in the end?
I got a kick out of the 2nd one. Good use of multiple intersecting timelines—very cleverly plotted and shot.
BTTF 2 was just a commercial for 3.
But the first one was good.
According to what I’ve read and heard, all 3 BTTF movies were filmed concurrently so they could keep the storyline perfectly in order. I liked them. Like Eric, I liked the alternate timeline concept of it.
OMG, I’m such a slut for classic science fiction, movies tv shows books or whatever.
My Top Five:
Andromeda Strain, The (1970)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Thing From Another World, The (1951)
Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn (1980)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Honorable Mention:
Rollerball (1975) (Jon A Than! Jon A Than!)
Planet Of The Apes (1968) (as good as it is, you can really tell that the budget got chopped. I wish the Ape World had been portrayed as more than mud huts)
Soylent Green (1973) (Ah, people were always lousy… But there was a world, once.)
Outland (1981) (High Noon In Outer Space! Plus Sean Connery!)
Plan Nine From Outer Space (1956) (You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!)
Movies that would rate if they weren’t nonfiction:
Right Stuff, The (1983)
Apollo 13 (1995)
The Best of The Rest Of My Favorites:
Aliens (1986) (get away from her you bitch!)
Day The Earth Stood Still, The (1951)
Empire Strikes Back, The (1981)
Frankenstein (1931)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Robocop (1987)
Star Trek IV The Voyage Home (1986) (everybody remember where we parked!)
Star Wars (1971)
Starship Troopers (1997) (to the contrary, the Nazi touches actually made me like the movie more)
Terminator, The (1984)
Terminator 2 (1991)
War Of The Worlds (1953) (the sound effects for the Martian ships and their blasters set the standard for what future stuff sounds like, not to be surpassed until Star Trek TOS)
Westworld (1973)
Good point, justjack. The Terminator should be on my list, possibly #1. Great, great movie.
“…I’m such a slut…”
And quite promiscuous in your answers!
You think this was bad? Wait until the 3DWknd5 Top 60s Sunshine Pop list.
>>Star Wars (1971)>>
THX-1138?
71? What the heck. I meant Star Wars 1977.
I once took a personality test that said I was likely to love science fiction or mysteries; I fall on the mysteries side of the equation and don’t have too much interest in or exposure to science fiction, but will give it my best shot.
TV Shows: original Star Trek, Lost in Space, Buck Rodgers in the 21st Century
Book (yes, only one): Jurassic Park
Movies: Aliens, Robocop, Men in Black (the first one)
Speaking of sci-fi and mysteries, the mighty Isaac Asimov also wrote some very fine short story mysteries in addition to his huge sci-fi canon. I think they were all collected in a volume called “Tales Of The Black Widowers.” In addition, Asimov wrote some terrific combination sci-fi mysteries, the best of which were collected in “Asimov’s Mysteries.” Two of his very best were the novel-length “Caves Of Steel” and “The Naked Sun,” both of which featured the odd-couple detective team of Lije Baley and his robot partner R. Daneel Olivaw.
Asimov is one of my favorite science “fact”ion writers (did I just make that up?), but one of my least favorite science fiction authors. He has a great knack for putting complex sceintific concepts in lay terms, but I don’t find his storytelling very appealing.
I found a copy of “Asimov on Astronomy” at the Goodwill ten years ago. One of my favorite books. A model of clarity, and fun to read.
Rufus, that’s how I feel about Arthur C. Clarke.
But I don’t love everything Asimov ever wrote, either. His attempt to “make better” the Fantastic Voyage movie-novelization that he originally wrote as a strictly cash assignment was ill-considered to say the least. And he must have been out of his mind to have tried to expand his classic short story Nightfall into a full length novel.
But I like the Lije Baley & R. Daneel Olivaw novels a great deal. Maybe having a mystery type storyline to work with helped Asimov to keep the tale moving along better.
And Happy Anniversary, Wankette, boy does the time fly. Cyber cotton balls and Q-tips headed your way!
Excluding all the great ones that were already mentioned:
1. Serenity
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
3. The Fifth Element
4. Ghostbusters
5. Spaceballs
Ghostbusters! I didn’t even consider that that movie was science fiction; even after thinking about it I still don’t know what I thought it was. Just comedy, I guess.
Blade Runner (original cut, w/narration)
Planet of the Apes (original film and the Boulle book)
The Empire Strikes Back
Flash Gordon (original series with Buster Crabbe and a cheesy shout-out to the Sam Jones movie)
V (every last mini-series and regular series episode)
Honorable mentions: Mutants of 2051 A.D. (stupid fleshy-headed mutants); the Star Wars comic books, Marvel-era (Jaxxon, MFers, Jaxxon!!!); and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (Twikki!!!)
I KNEW 21st Century didn’t sound right, but I didn’t take the time to look it up.
I bet you liked it for all the funky dance scenes…
Personally I watched for COL Wilma Dearing, ROWAR!
Didn’t everyone?
That video was packed with cheesy goodness, that is for sure.
FLASH GORDON!!!Music by QUEEN!!
No Battlestar Galactica? New version rocked.,
First season of the old one was great also.
HM to Warehouse 13 on the SciFi Network (yes I know that’s no longer it’s official name).
I only saw the pilot of the new Battlestar Galactica, Floyd. First, Starbuck was a broad. Second, they thought it would be clever to have a couple argue and then screw in the first five minutes of the show, before I even knew who the hell was who, or cared. I don’t give third strikes.
too bad… because you missed some compelling television with a ton more spot on social commentary than ST ever hoped to make. (till they screwed the pooch in the last season)
I get so sick of social commentary. Give me good stories and interesting ideas.
BG has existential crisis mixed with the Exodus… what’s not to like?
I find it hard to swallow that a sci-fi fan doesn’t like social commentary given that that’s most of what it is.
I wouldn’t say that’s most of what it is. Or maybe you’re right, and I’ve learned to ignore it. You ever see the Star Trek with the aliens who are black on the left side and white on the right side, and they hate the mirror image aliens? That was unignorable social commentary, so I hated it.
You probably hate star bellied sneeches and the Lorax, too. Hater!
“Dark City”,Floyd? Is that where everyone smokes Kools?
Well-played sir. No Dark City is a great movie with Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt, and Jennifer Connally.
Dark City is a great sci-fi movie. Hey, do you know the way to Shell Beach?
Is that the movie where Jennifer Connaly doesn’t appear topless?
The 27th Day (1957): A Cold War B-Movie where people from super power nations are abducted by aliens and give capsules that can destroy 3K miles of enemy territory. Only the Soviets intend to use it.
Thunderbirds: A 60′s British kids show with marionettes depicting a family with advanced technology, called International Rescue, saving people world-wide. You know you wish Thunderbird 2 was your main ride.
John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982): This was ahead of its time for the 80s. The FX still hold up to all the CGI stuff and looks real. I also love The Thing From Another World, and often prefer the classic originals, but in this case, the remake is better.
Planet of the Apes (1968): I probably saw the TV show before the movies, but that John Chambers makeup is imbedded in my soul and sparked my imagination as a child, jump starting my talent as an artist. The first career I ever wanted as a kid, was that of a special fx makeup artist.
I also liked Event Horizon, Strange Days, The Last Starfighter, Weird Science should get some love too.
The Last Starfighter! I haven’t thought about that one in years. I also liked Night of the Comet, kind of a zombie-lite flick for those wimps among us (or just wimpy me).
I liked Event Horizon too, but it was definitely weird.
Krull!
Are you ready to fight the Ko-Dan armada?
Ditto the Star Trek reboot, the Star Trek cartoon in the 1970s
I know Dark City…I think Eric likes the Rufus Sewell nekkid part.Good call on Strange Days,Floyd,forgotten that one.
Just making sure Scott… I like to recommend it.
Star Trek II & III (They are two parts to one story – and just about the perfect sci-fi movie – because at its heart it’s about relationships, duty and honor, and sacrifice. With space battles and stuff. Sadly, STIV was wrecked by the addition of the Save the Whales bs and the absence of James Horner.)
Blade Runner (The second most perfect sci-fi movie ever. What is it to be human? Oh – Director’s Cut FTW!)
2001: A Space Odyssey (The first Sci-Fi epic. Some say that the movie felt like evolution in real time. Of course, those people are the reason we end up with crap like Avatar and Transformers.)
Akira (Like 2001, this movie asks: what’s next for Mankind? Unlike 2001, the catalyst is Mankind itself.)
Star Wars (Lucas should’ve stopped with THIS one! Pure popcorn fun – just don’t try and think about it too much… Now, the first one to try and correct me by calling it Episode IV will be Force choked.)
Honorable Mentions:
The Andromeda Strain
Alien
Back to the Future
Terminator
War of the Worlds
TV:
5. Star Trek
4. The Twilight Zone
3. Star Trek: The Next Generation
2. Lost
1. Doctor Who
Books:
5. Dune
4. Ender’s Game
3. I, Robot
2. Foundation
1. Speaker for the Dead
Movies:
5. The Prestige
4. Terminator 2
3. Inception
2. Total Recall
1. The Matrix
When Netflix asks me what my favorite genres are, I always include Science Fiction. And yet when I’m asked to rate Sci-Fi movies, I’m always very harsh. Netflix doesn’t know what to do with me. A good science fiction movie is my favorite kind of movie, but a mediocre one drives me up the wall.
Netflix isn’t the only one that doesn’t know what to do with you.
And that’s true, too.
He just needs a good spanking!
……………………..I’m not volunteering!
What? No Babylon 5 in your tv list? As much as I enjoyed Star Trek TOS and some of TNG, to me Babylon 5 is the greatest thing that was ever put on tv.
I never saw an episode of Babylon 5. “Lost” was really unusual for me to watch. I normally shy away from any TV show that has too much continuity. I don’t want to have to see every episode.
And no one mentioned that old TV gem “Space 1999!”
Thunderbirds, Space 1999, Captain Scarlet…I think by far, by a country mile, the best thing that Gerry Anderson ever did was UFO. What a kick**s theme song, too!