These lists are always divisive because people have different definitions of sci-fi, or lean toward one style of it versus others e.g. "hard" sci-fi
vs sci-fi fantasy, etc. And there are many works of sci-fi people consider absolutely horrible that I loved lol. Go figure. Mine though, if I had a
gun to my head (no particular order; I can't choose):
A.I. (Would I have preferred to see Kubrick's take on it? Yes. But he willingly handed it over to Spielberg and then passed away. And unlike many, I
actually loved what was done with it and see quite a bit of Kubrick's influence even if others disagree. That's fine.)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (The ending chokes me up to this day. Especially one particular line from Kirk.)
2001: A Space Odyssey. (Perhaps a bit slow and tedious by modern standards, but it remains a classic and, to me, timeless.)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (I like it a lot less than I used to. Spielberg said a while back that when he watches this work of his today, he
sees "a lot of naivete," and that's how I feel about my past infatuation with it too lol. But I still love it.)
Batteries Not Included. (Calling this sci-fi might be a stretch for some, but for me the sense of wonder and magic in it, and the fact that it's still
about small mechanical life forms from another world, allows it to qualify... if only just.)
Terminator. (This is another one that can be hard to peg as sci-fi necessarily. The brilliant thing about it was that although full of sci-fi tropes,
it was filmed and presented almost more like a horror slasher flick. The combination was jarring enough that it was genuinely scary at the time. And
that haunting feeling in the 80s that technology really could get away from us and destroy us all, while by no means original or novel, was really
well captured in it imo.)
Terminator 2. (Ditto. The franchise ended for me after this, too.
)
Blade Runner. (Need I say more?)
Gattaca. (Before The Matrix, Minority Report, and countless others, Gattaca was - for its time - an interesting take on eugenics and transhumanism and
their potential threat to human individuality and endeavor. More intimate and personal than other films dealing with the rise of sterile, dehumanizing
tech-driven futures, and a lot less action packed, but some great performances imo.)
1984 (Speaks for itself.)
Moon. (Imagine the, "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that, Dave" sequence from 2001: ASO was the entire premise of a film, complete with the same sense
of isolation in a space setting, and you have Moon. A somewhat unoriginal but nonetheless extremely well executed, imo, sci-fi flick, with more
emphasis on emotional resonance and catharsis than scale or philosophical premise.)
The Matrix. (Although already mentioned and kind of a cliche now, this movie was like a seminal event for me in my younger days, so I have to include
it lol. At the time, it was mind blowing.)
So yeah, in the end my list is pretty cliched lol. But it's honest.
Peace.
edit on 9/16/2016 by AceWombat04 because: (no reason given)
edit on 9/16/2016 by AceWombat04 because: (no reason
given)