Another List, For Those Who Care

[Cullen]

This is, of course, the wrong site for this.  None of us came here to talk about GOOD movies, after all.  However, these silly lists sometimes sparks interesting comments and I’m all for that.

Anyway, here’s the deal.  The Online Film Critics Society has made up a list of the best 100 Science Fiction Films of all time.  At the top of the list is the following (least to greatest):

10. Alien (1979)
9. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
7. Brazil (1985)
6. Metropolis (1927)
5. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

See the whole list at http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com/pages/pr/top100scifi

For right now, all I am going to say is this:

*  I’m glad “Buckaroo Banzai” made the list (at #93, over “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” heh heh), but where’s “Repo Man?”  That one’s by far better than “They Live,” and not just by my estimation, either.  (Of course, seeing at least four John Carpenter films over STIV:TVH tickles me to no end.)

*  Glad to see some foreign flicks on the list.  I hoped to see original “Godzilla” there (“Them” is), but I’m not crushed or surprised not to find it.

* “Independence Day” is FAR too high on the list, especially considering no “Repo Man.”

* Finally, who else thinks “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is far overrated?  I’m not saying it doesn’t belong on the list, or anything, but #14, over “Five Million Miles to Earth” and “The Thing from Another World?”  I don’t know.

That’s it from me.  What do you all think?

[jmc]

I don't consider ALIEN to really be science fiction, but it's still a decent flick.  Glad to see BRAZIL placed high.  I don't like 2001 very much.  

I would have put REPO MAN in the top 10 for sure.

[John Morgan]

STARSHIP TROOPERS MADE THE LIST???????!!!!!

[J.R.]

2001 is the most overrated film ever. And I wouldn't even consider about 1/3 of the films on the list science fiction. And several of the films on the list (Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.), are decent films, but nowhere near as good as the books they're based on. I would have placed Gattaca higher, as it's one of the few serious sci-fi films Hollywood's let out of the sanitizing phase. Finally, what's with this sudden acceptance of A.I.? Everyone disliked it when it came out a year ago, and now it sweeps up at the Saturn awards and makes #25.

[Cullen]

"Everyone disliked it when it came out a year ago..."

Not everyone.  I thought it was excellent.  Not sure where I'd place it, though.

[Chris K.]

Okay, I think everybody around this message board knows I don't like Speilberg. Sure he made some great films like the Indiana Jones films, ET, and JAWS, and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. But his other films like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF A THIRD KIND, 1941, and SCHINDLER'S LIST are hardly favorable features in my eyes. And you know it's just me talking.

Anyway, yes their were some critics that found A.I. not too good. Hell, I saw some bits and pieces of it and even I feel it's not that great either. The original treatment by Stanley Kubrick was dark, dreary, and not hartwarming whatsoever making it the next version of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. But, when Speilberg enters the director's chair he turns it into a sappy and quite cheesy (in terms of dialouge and emotional standards) feature that just ELIMINATED what Kubrick would have wanted (and even though Kubrick was dead and gone when Speilberg entered the picture, he could have at least went by what the talented Kubrick had offered). And as I look down upon 2001: A SPACE ODDESSY due to being quite BORING, I find his other features DR. STRANGELOVE, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and THE SHINING to be his Golden Moments.

Moving on, it was said that if some critics in the past were not to favorable on Kubrick's features then you could end up loosing your job! And quite possibly, these critics who disliked Speilberg's A.I. could have almost ended up the same way. In the end, they changed their minds.

This couldn't possibly happen, so why am I mentioning it? Just for fun.

[J.R.]

When I was young I thought Spielberg was an uber-director, but then as an adult I realized that he was hit-or-miss. I don't fervently hate him as some do, but he is quite overpraised among critics and the like. If he makes a film, by god he will recieve any non-Oscar directing award there is. He won the DGA...for The Lost World! Kubrick made truly great films with A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket and The Shining, but again, he's overpraised, only more with the film-buff-types that hate Spielberg. He was a good director, but...hespent about a year or two to make something that in the end could have been done in the standard three months, and he was, IMHO, kind of a pervert (there was way more sexual content in A Clockwork Orange than Anthony Burgess' novel).

[BlackAngel]

I took a look at the list and I must say this, I gotta bone up on my sci-fi (as a matter of fact, I'm thinking of getting Donnie Darko this week).  Now, from the ones I have seen, in my opinion, they seem to be in the right place, except for one.  They placed Akira 77th.  Granted it's not the GREATEST, greatest movie of all time, but 77th?????  It should be placed, at least, in around the 50's.  But that's just my opinion.

[Nathan]

You're right; 2001 is overrated.  I was one of the voting critics, and it  wasn't in my top ten.  (Each voting critic submitted a list of 25, from which the final list of 100 was compiled.)  But for some reason, not only did 2001 come in highest overall, but it was also the single movie which garnered the most individual #1 votes.

Me?  I think I was the single person who put Planet of the Apes as #1...

Nathan

[raj]

Random thoughts:

ET is way too high.  Yeah it was alright, but not this great movie people praise.  Same with Close Encounters.  MIB I would have put up higher, it didn't take itself seriously, had fun with the SF aspects of the movie (almost B-movie-esque).

Starship Troopers was the absolute worst gutting of a good book.  Heinlein's estate should have banned them from using the title.

Am glad they have the 1956 version of Invaders of the Body Snatchers but why put the 1978 remake there?BlackAngel wrote:

[J.R.]

I thunk those who made the list lost sight of what good sci-fi is: A story involvong a new technology or idea, and how it would affect society, war, humanity, etc. Most of these films are fun stories that just happen to involve aliens or cloning or something.

[Mofo Rising]

Yup, sci-fi as defined by the public and critics who make lists like this is far too broad to really say anything meaningful.  How do you compare STAR WARS, E.T. and 2001?  Are they anything like 12 MONKEYS, DONNIE DARKO (which really pushes the sci-fi definition) or MAD MAX BEYOND THE THUNDERDOME?  Is SPIDER-MAN a sci-fi movie?

For the record, I love 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.  But hey, whatever floats your boat.

[Flangepart]

So subjective  this list is. Tastes personal, i'll not knock. WOAH!...sorry about the Yoda moment.......anyway, as per the varying defintions of Sci-Fi, i like the one per how changing tech. affects human behavior. Still, that definition might also work in Space Opera. Conciter : Hyperdrive makes space travel possable and relitivly safe. Once the tech. is concitered an everyday thing ( Like airline travel), that makes it background stuff, rather then the point of the story. Hence, Han and Chewie set corse for Tatooine, and never think twice about it, unless they have a breakdown in the drive motivator. Then, they call up the nearest friend that can "Give 'em a lift". Therefor, space opera is cool, as it's focus is on the personal interactions, (Chick flick), rather then on the technology thats involved (Guy flick). Hummm...i think that makes sence.......btw, i like Andromida Strain because it focuses on the facination with the alien lifeform, and how it works, and does not divert us with a "Mk1 hollywood love intrest", as they did in so many Scf-fi flicks. Treated Characters and audience  like adults, they did. DANG.....sorry.

[Nufankicks]

NAH! Some of those movies kick!

[BoyScoutKevin]

As for my take on the list . . .
Seen:  97, 96,  91, 89, 87, 85, 81, 78, 74, 73, 71, 69, 64,  60, 59, 58, 53, 51, 48, 46, 40, 38, , 32, 30, 28, 27, 18,  17, 14, 13, 6, 4, 3, 1
Liking: 96, 89, 85, 81, 73, 71, 69, 60, 59, 58, 53, 48, 46, 32, 28, 27, 18, 17, 14, 6
As for 39, 23, 22, I think most people, including myself, would put them under horror, but, I do understand why they can also be listed as science fiction. Enjoy!