Best Sci-Fi

[shipperx]

Over on Cold Dead Seed someone linked to a poll of the "Best Sci-Fi Movie Ever" and Browncoats have apparently been busy little beavers as they have managed to have Serenity winning by a substantial margin. Not to get into my opinion of Firefly and not to insult the movie (or Joss), but, seriously? The runaway best sci-fi movie ever? I'm sure that those who love it, really, really love it. But, I'm sorry... I just can't accept that it's the "best sci-fi movie ever". In reaction, I'm doing a poll myself. What is the best Sci-Fi movie? (And I'm not including Fantasy, which means that, I am excluding such gems as the LOTR trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Excalibur, Indiana Jones, etc. These are genre, but they aren't really Science Fiction). So... poll:

[Poll #945514]


P.S. I realize that I'm leaving out some strong contenders, but I had reached the limit of possible answers that the LJ poll maker would allow

P.P.S Sorry for misspelling Frankenstein, but it won't allow me to edit it.

Comments

[powerofthebook.livejournal.com]

I owe my conception in part to "Star Wars: A New Hope," so without being too self-important, it's going down as my fave.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. Can't argue with that.

[bubonicplague.livejournal.com]

STAR WARS IS NOT SCIENCE FICTION! It is a Western set in space. The only thing sci-fi about it is the jump to lightspeed.

Umm, yeah, it's a thing of mine.

Anyway, of these, definitely Forbidden Planet. It's got a great plot, kickass animation and sets that still hold up, and Robbie the Robot. What's not to love?

I'm just sorry that 12 Monkeys isn't listed.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I agree. I even sort of debated whether it should also be shunted into Fantasy, but generally it's listed as sci-fi, and on the surface that's sort of where it belongs so I left it there.

And, I have to shamefacedly admit... I've never managed to make it all the way through 12 Monkeys. Brad Pitt creeps me out (and I'm not just talking about the character he plays in the movie. I just don't "get" Brad Pitt other than the whole glorious abs thing).

[bubonicplague.livejournal.com]

Heh he creeps you out in shit like...umm, A River Runs Through It? For some reason I find that really amusing.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I never made it through "A River Runs Through It" either. And, come to think of it, I never made it through "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" either. And, I have to say that I wasn't a fan of "Thelma and Louise", thought "Oceans 11" was overrated, never bothered to see "Oceans 12" and only watched "Fight Club" for Norton. Basically, Brad Pitt's entire career eludes me. >:)

[bubonicplague.livejournal.com]

I think he's a pretty good actor, though I really have never been all that attracted to him. 12 Monkeys is just a creepy movie in general, but than I think everything of Terry Gilliam's qualifies as creepy and fucked up.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

That is the truth. The plastic surgery scene in Brazil always comes to mind. ::shudder::

(And don't feel bad about my having let out a movie, I also left out some of my favorites. Personally, though I also cannot stand Ethan Hawke, Gattaca is one of my favorite sci-fi movies. I just didn't think it was something most people would rate as one of the best in sci-fi, and it's not exactly groundbreaking, didn't have a lasting legacy, and isn't a "classic."

[bubonicplague.livejournal.com]

Actually I think that was a pretty stellar film. I am also fond of Andrei Tarkovsky's films Solaris (i.e. not the George Clooney version) and Stalker. As for not-good sci-fi films, I really have a soft spot for 2010.

[kellyhk.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, 12 Monkeys.

Excellent choice.

Creepy creepy film, and one of the few where Brad Pitt shows he can actually act!

[spikendru.livejournal.com]

Um . . . I am voting for Fritz Lang's 1927 version of Metropolis, right? Nobody came along and made a crappy remake that I accidentially voted for by mistake, did they?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Not that I'm aware of. Though there probably is one somewhere.

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

Much as I love "Star Wars," it's not properly science fiction to me. So I'm going with Blade Runner.

Though I think "Gattaca" should've made the list, as well.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I struggled with "Star Wars" as sci-fi because it isn't really science fiction, but in any video stores, it would be categorized as such.

Also, personally, I love Gattaca and I wanted to place it on the list, but there seemed to be a limit in the number of poll choices and though it's a movie that I really like and is sci-fi (in a way that Star Wars isn't) I didn't think it was a movie which had much of a legacy, isn't a "classic" in the general sense, and wasn't groundbreaking in its time. It's a wonderful, moving movie, though.

[rahirah]

It's a shame Gattaca didn't make a bigger impression, because in terms of quality and thoughtfulness, I think it's right up there with the best of these. I wonder if SF has become too mainstream to make the kind of impression on the public consciousness that it used to.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Tricky! Tough call if you're talking about "best" in terms of relevance or influence, or big ideas, or sheer entertainment value - ah, screw it all, I voted for Planet of the Apes. I still get shudders thinking about the "You blew it up!" scene. Big ideas, big relevance, and dood, Charlton Heston nekkid!! It made an impression on me. (Plus I may have imprinted on Roddy McDowell's accent - my lifelong Anglophilia might've started right there.)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hee! No argument from me. Charleston Heston had a way with those kind of apocalyptic statements. If it's not "Damn you!" with his fist in the air as he looked up at the Statue of Liberty it was "Soilent Green is people!". I always had great affection for Angel for having recognized that fact. :)

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I'm a shameless Heston fangirl, I admit it. That bit in Wayne's World 2 where they pull in Charlton to do a bit scene because they just "need a better actor" makes me smile like a mad thing. He's just got this way of delivering the high emotion that really does it for me. (Although this probably goes back to The Ten Commandments, which may also explain why bald guys look teh sexy to me.) : )

[kellyhk.livejournal.com]

Great, thanks you two. Now I have the image of Heston (or phil hartman impersonating him) shaking his fist crying, Damn you!!!!!!

Actually, throw me into the soft spot for PotA (and not the crappy Marky Mark version)

[shapinglight]

No doubt in my mind. Bladerunner it has to be.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that poll was more like 'if you're a Browncoat, what's the greatest sci-fi movie of all time' which, yeah, then it would be Serenity. *eyeroll*

I voted for Alien on that poll, although really it's more horror than sci fi to me, but on yours I was torn between Metropolis and The Day the Earth Stood Still. But since I've never seen Metropolis in its entirety, I had to vote for Earth. Klaatu barada nikto. *g*

[kellyhk.livejournal.com]

Only pick one?

*dies*

For sentimental reasons, ESB is my favorite and I picked that one. But from a true, what is a kick ass Sci Fi move, I would probably have to go with Blade Runner.

Frankenstein, the original film with Boris Karlof is rather good, considering the era it was very good. Kevin Branaugh's ego project from the 90's was a stinking pile of dog crap. Since we're talking about sci fi works, I'd have to through Frankenstein Unbound in there in the Frankenstein genre. Very cheesy, but actually a good sci fi film.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I rewatched Young Frankenstein this weekend. Still funny.

[wisemack.livejournal.com]

Interesting poll, and hard to come up with a definitive answer.

My first impulse was Metropolis but I think that's mostly because of a few visual images that are indelibly stamped on my brain. The rest of the movie can be pretty tedious today. (Sorry, Mr. Lang.)

I still love The Day The Earth Stood Still and re-watched it just recently, but because I remember the Fifties quite vividly, I think I have a hard time with the "fiction" part of it. If that makes any sense?

Finally had to go with Blade Runner because it put me right IN "a" future (hopefully not "the" future, though) and it is still both visually stunning and visceral in its impact on the other senses. Which is kinda my way of saying that the sounds of that particular future creeped me out - as did Rutger Hauer. And the incessant rain.

I also liked the ambiguous ending - not the theatrical version, but the later "director's cut" that did away with the voice-over and left everyone wondering about who was really a replicant. Brilliant!

[celesteavonne.livejournal.com]

I like the 'Frakenstein', though. Conjures images of Riker from TNG. It's alive! Alive!!!!

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I looked at the ones I love (like Star Wars {just Star Wars, dagnabbit}) and looked at the classics, and then had to go with my Critic's Gut, which said the best quality SF on the list, and that's Blade Runner. Really solidly made pure SF, both the original theatrical release and the director's cut.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think my favorite may be Twelve Monkeys.

[owenthurman.livejournal.com]

I must be the only one who thought Blade Runner was a dreary waste of film stock.

Why all the dark and all the wet? The emotional impact to be noir simply isn't there.

And the narrative is sketchy. Character motivations are weak. Filling in the story to give some sense to the action without exposition is key to science fiction on film and it is just missing here.

One and a half stars at best. Alien, Terminator, Forbidden Planet, and Planet of The Apes are all favorites but I don't understand what the rest of you see in Blade Runner.

[rahirah]

Damn, that's a hard one. I'm really torn. But I'd agree that Serenity, while it was entertaining enough, isn't anywhere near number one. It's good enough at what it does, but it's not ground-breaking in the way some of the others on this list are.