My 5 Sci-Fi votes…
If any viewers have other movies that you think should be on this list, or have different opinions on the one's which I have listed, please leave a comment here...I'd really like to know... :-)
The Best
1) The Star Wars Trilogy
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back - Return of the Jedi – NOT Phantom Menace
I’m sure no one is surprised this is first (well, maybe a few), but Star Wars was not only responsible for the resurgence of modern sci-fi movies, but blended the best of what I love about movies…entertainment and excitement.
Landmark special effects at the time, it has not lost it’s appeal, though some have still not seen any of them (my brother-in-law has not. I keep trying to trick him into watching one though).
The Empire Strikes Back is actually my favorite of the three. The Hoth setting was beautiful and stark. As a kid, my father made a Hoth play area for us, using styro-foam and plastic. One of the best memories I have.
They will always be the originals, and the classics…
2) Blade Runner
The movie Harrison Ford hated…but everyone else loved.
This movie is not for everyone. It’s not an exciting, valiant movie like Star Wars.
The setting is bleak, raw, and haunting. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack is typically 1980s, but remains appropriate. Not initially a hit, Blade Runner went against the grain that Star Wars had laid down. The bad guys are bad, but you are sympathetic to them. The good guys are human, and show their weaknesses.
Ford plays a Blade Runner – a cop who hunts down “replicants” (advanced androids) – who comes out of a miserable retirement to find a group of escaped replicants. Rutger Hauer, as the leader of the replicants, plays the part perfectly, as he searches for the man who created him.
Sean Young, who later came down with rigor mortis for her other films, is actually good here, as a replicants who has be brought up believing she is human. You feel for her.
Check out the re-release/Director’s Cut (on DVD if you can), which has extra footage and removes the voice-over.
Spoiler Ahead : One extra scene implies that Ford is himself a replicant.
A great movie…
3) E.T.
Yes, I know…a sterile, good-natured, family movie. Doesn’t exactly fit in with the rest.
Well, that’s true, but it has some sort of movie magic to it. Spielberg is a master at what he does. He not only directs the movie, but he tells the story in a way few can do. You feel for the characters, and get drawn into this world.
The story (if you don’t know) revolves around an alien who is left behind by his mothership. This sweet, innocent creature eventually finds sanctuary with a young boy (Elliot), and his siblings, as the government pursues. He and Elliot develop a deep bond that is tested near the end of the movie. I won’t tell you more.
The movie is funny, charming, exciting, and endearing.
4) The Matrix
I hated this movie the first time I saw it, but after the second, third, and subsequent viewings, I was hooked.
The movie takes the tried-but-true sci-fi theme of “reality is more than it seems,” and perfects it.
Keanu Reeves is atypically good in the lead role, bringing both naiveté and confidence to his character (Neo).
A complex storyline, yes. Confusing…maybe. But the incredible action sequences, atmosphere, special effects, and intriguing storyline made for a great ride.
5) Planet of the Apes
I have loved this movie since the very first time I saw it as a kid. Charlton Heston is a favorite actor of mine, and he was great as Colonel George Taylor.
Based on the Pierre Boule novel, Apes opens with Heston and his astronaut crew crashing onto a planet , which they find inhabited by apes. The humans are relegated to slave tasks and cages, while the leadership and ruling class come from the apes.
Contrary to the disappointing 2001 remake, the humans never speak, except for Heston, who’s classic line, “Get your stinking paws off me, you d**ned dirty ape!,” strikes a foreboding chord with the apes. Since speaking leads to intelligent thought (and vice versa), they viewed this as having the potential to overthrow their leadership. Throughout the rest of the film, Heston is hunted, eventually coming across on of the most harrowing scenes ever in a movie. An unbelievably original ending.
Honorable Mention
Outland
A skinny Sean Connery plays the Gary Cooper part in this futuristic version of High Noon. It’s an interesting, gritty, and ultimately satisfying movie, from director Peter Hyams.
Connery plays a Marshall reluctantly assigned to on a space station (Mining colony) who finds the ins-and-outs of politics quite disturbing. Having to deal with a corrupt manager (Peter Boyle) and disloyal deputies forces him to have to deal with a deep-rooted drug problem within the community, as well as hired assassins, on his own.
Has a nice feel to it…
