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[pauljeremiah]

Decide to make a list of all those "must-see" sci-fi films.

The list is unranked and listed in release order.

New Updated List:

• Metropolis
• Frankenstein
• The Thing from Another World
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Godzilla
• The Blob
• Alphaville
• Fahrenheit 451
• Planet of the Apes
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• The Andromeda Strain
• A Clockwork Orange
• Silent Running
• Slaughterhouse-Five
• Solaris
• Soylent Green
• Fantastic Planet
• Death Race 2000
• A Boy and His Dog
• The Man Who Fell to Earth
• Logan’s Run
• Star Wars
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• Mad Max
• Alien
• Stalker
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Altered States
• Mad Max 2
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Blade Runner
• The Thing
• Videodrome
• Repo Man
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• The Terminator
• Brazil
• Back to the Future
• Aliens
• Castle in the Sky
• Predator
• RoboCop
• The Running Man
• Akira
• The Blob
• They Live
• Tetsuo: The Iron Man
• The Abyss
• Total Recall
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Jurassic Park
• Demolition Man
• Ghost in the Shell
• Strange Days
• Twelve Monkeys
• Independence Day
• Men in Black
• Contact
• Event Horizon
• Gattaca
• Starship Troopers
• Open Your Eyes
• Dark City
• The Truman Show
• Pi
• The Matrix
• eXistenZ
• The Iron Giant
• Galaxy Quest
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Vanilla Sky
• Minority Report
• Save the Green Planet!
• Primer
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• I, Robot
• V for Vendetta
• The Host
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
• Children of Men
• The Prestige
• Sunshine
• WALL·E
• Tokyo Gore Police
• Moon
• District 9
• Redline
• The Road
• Another Earth
• Limitless
• Source Code
• Attack the Block
• Melancholia
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Contagion
• The Hunger Games
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
• Looper
• Warm Bodies
• Upstream Color
• Snowpiercer
• Gravity
• Under the Skin
• Her
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Interstellar
• Ex Machina
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• 10 Cloverfield Lane
• Arrival
• War for the Planet of the Apes
• Blade Runner 2049
• Annihilation
• Upgrade
• Tenet

 

[Deleted member 801069]

how is Annihilation not on a list that long

it’s better than most movies on that list

edit: wait is this your list? I read that as a list put together by Decider. you should still watch Annihilation

 

[eot]

Starship Troopers?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

People that don't rank lists have no cajones.

 

[Impotaku]

Galaxy quest is shockingly missing, for shame OP

 

[Prison Mike]

Event horizon

 

[MrS]

Upstream Color was truly great. Its place on the list is deserved. Fantastic.

 

[Birdo]

Dr. Strangelove (Yup, It's classed as Sci-fi, due to it's fictional Doomsday Machine)

 

[pauljeremiah]

Dr. Strangelove (Yup, It's classed as Sci-fi, due to it's fictional Doomsday Machine)

I would always class Dr Strangelove as political satire more than sci-fi, though there are some sci-fi elements to it.

 

[pauljeremiah]

how is Annihilation not on a list that long

it’s better than most movies on that list

edit: wait is this your list? I read that as a list put together by Decider. you should still watch Annihilation

Starship Troopers?

Galaxy quest is shockingly missing, for shame OP

Event horizon

The list is still ongoing, I have left a few out as I'm still building it. Will add the above films. I have see Annihilation, I really did like it.

 

[pauljeremiah]

People that don't rank lists have no cajones.

Truth, but as soon as you start ranking and say X film is better than Y film, the whole point of the list fails. The whole reason for me to ever compile a list is never to say X is better than Y but it's for someone who isn't into a genre but may want to explore it and they can use the list as a starting point to start that exploration of a genre.

 

[T8SC]

Greatest "of all time" and Tenet, which is a mere few months old is on the list, yet no The Thing?

 

[thefool]

Patlabor 2

 

[teezzy]

 

[Mr Hyde]

Terminator 2
Children of Men
Dark City
Annihilation
Ex Machina
District 9
Brazil
Robocop
Total Recall
Starship Troopers

These are some of my favorites. Loads more, should probably put some of Nolan's movies in there, but these are really the cream of the crop for me.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

any list of the best sci fi movies has to include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. not just the best Trek movie, one of the best sci fi movies of all time.

 

[Nymphae]

BTTF trilogy best sci-fi trilogy by a mile. Nerdiness not necessary to enjoy it in the slightest, something there for absolutely everyone.

 

[HE1NZ]

Both Star Trek The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan should be included. Also, The Thing.

 

[pauljeremiah]

BTTF trilogy best sci-fi trilogy by a mile. Nerdiness not necessary to enjoy it in the slightest, something there for absolutely everyone.

I honestly think the first Back To The Future film is just a perfect film.

 

[Nymphae]

I honestly think the first Back To The Future film is just a perfect film.

I've always thought the same, one of the few imo

 

[eot]

I like Firefly, but I don't think Serenity is an all time great sci-fi film

 

[teezzy]

I like Firefly, but I don't think Serenity is an all time great sci-fi film

 

[Catphish]

Loves me some Contact.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

the list is missing some of the older sci fi classics.

Forbidden Planet (1956)
An effects-heavy landmark film known for many firsts (first man-made FTL ship, first movie to take place entirely on another planet, first to use an entirely electronic score). Robby the Robot as one of the first robots with a personality, he was so expensive he took up 7% of the movie's budget.



The Time Travelers (1964)
A mind blowing movie that has lots of great special effect sequences plus an ending that is as big a mind fuck as anything Nolan has created.

 

[teezzy]

#Phonepunk#

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I got to go with Rocky IV...

 

[Rentahamster]

GATTACA was really cool

 

[DragoonWalker]

Excellent list, OP, most of the classics are on there, and your list spans a wide spectrum of time and space.

Please consider these, they most certainly belong in anyone's list of essentials:
Demolition Man - Everything it satirized is painfully true today
Dredd - an 80s action film made in 2012
Tetsuo the Iron Man - ultimate body horror, trippy af
The Man who Fell to Earth - mesmerizing tale of David Bowie as an alien
Deathrace 2000 - The best thing Roger Corman ever produced
Mad Max 1 & 2 - Fury Road impressive but these were groundbreaking back then
The Blob & it's 80s remake - right up there with bodysnatchers
The Thing - Can't have Alien/Predator and not have this one
Fantastic Planet - experimental animated headtrip
Nausicaa Valley of the Wind - Ghibli's debut is sci fi
Castle in the Sky - More fun than Nausicaa
Redline - The visuals are mindblowing
Upgrade - a modern indie sleeper
New Planet of the Apes Trilogy - each film is a different genre, all telling on epic tale
A Boy and His Dog - Mad Max, but weirder
Save the Green Planet - what if all crazy conspiracies were true
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Intimate time travel story


My bone to pick:
1984 - Seminal book, none of the adaptations are seminal
Star Wars Ep. IV -This is where it all started, how could you not include this? No ep IV, no Darth, no lightsabers, no tie fighters
The Prestige - Is this really a sci fi film?

EDIT: Shit, how could I forget Cronenberg?? Gotta have The Fly, Naked Lunch, Dead Zone

 

[pauljeremiah]

Excellent list, OP, most of the classics are on there, and your list spans a wide spectrum of time and space.

Please consider these, they most certainly belong in anyone's list of essentials:
Demolition Man - Everything it satirized is painfully true today
Dredd - an 80s action film made in 2012
Tetsuo the Iron Man - ultimate body horror, trippy af
The Man who Fell to Earth - mesmerizing tale of David Bowie as an alien
Deathrace 2000 - The best thing Roger Corman ever produced
Mad Max 1 & 2 - Fury Road impressive but these were groundbreaking back then
The Blob & it's 80s remake - right up there with bodysnatchers
The Thing - Can't have Alien/Predator and not have this one
Fantastic Planet - experimental animated headtrip
Nausicaa Valley of the Wind - Ghibli's debut is sci fi
Castle in the Sky - More fun than Nausicaa
Redline - The visuals are mindblowing
Upgrade - a modern indie sleeper
New Planet of the Apes Trilogy - each film is a different genre, all telling on epic tale
A Boy and His Dog - Mad Max, but weirder
Save the Green Planet - what if all crazy conspiracies were true
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - Intimate time travel story


My bone to pick:
1984 - Seminal book, none of the adaptations are seminal
Star Wars Ep. IV -This is where it all started, how could you not include this? No ep IV, no Darth, no lightsabers, no tie fighters
The Prestige - Is this really a sci fi film?

Thanks for the suggestions, will add some of the above to the list.

I think The Prestige is sci-fi or victorian sci-fi to phrase it better. I think it is due to the Tesla subplot.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

 

[SpiceRacz]

• Solaris
• Ghost in the Shell
• Dark City
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence
• Vanilla Sky
• Blade Runner 2049

 

[teezzy]

I like Firefly, but I don't think Serenity is an all time great sci-fi film

As a less trolling response, I had a lot of fun with Serenity. I saw it prior to watching Firefly.

Then I watched Firefly and suddenly adored Serenity. Is it top 5? No, but it's top 6 for me, personally.

Cheers, eot. <3

 

[Dev1lXYZ]

Stalker as well as Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky. Both available on Criterion. Kubrick level Sci Fi.

 

[Mistershine.]

Are hunger games, mad max, and 1984 classed as Sci Fi?

 

[pauljeremiah]

Are hunger games, mad max, and 1984 classed as Sci Fi?

I would class them as dystopian sci-fi.

 

[pauljeremiah]

I have added any film recommendations to the Letterboxd list.

Will update the OP list later today.

 

[The Hamburglar]

Where is gattaca? Better than the majority of trash presented.

 

[pauljeremiah]

Where is gattaca? Better than the majority of trash presented.

It is there.

 

[Ikutachi]

Flubber.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

Where's Lifeforce??

 

[IDKFA]

Arrival.

Not only my personal favourite, but it also has one of the best soundtracks of any movie. The music in some scenes is truly alien and incredibly haunting.

 

[Cannibalistic]

On the Silver Globe directed by Andrzej Zulawksi.

Wild sci fi. Incredible experience. If you're a fan of 2001 or just like pondering what it means to be human, I highly recommend this film.

*Can be hard to find.

 

[edbrat]

Edge of Tomorrow could sneak onto a list that long. Cube maybe.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Cooler's tech felt very futuristic, I remember really wanting to see "Frieza's Brother" in theaters.

 

[Ballthyrm]

• 12 Monkeys
• The 5th element
• The Martian
• Paprika
• Brazil
• Memories
• your name
• Perfect Blue

 

[Airola]

The list needs El incidente - my second favorite movie of all time:


Also Quiet Earth:

 

[Airola]

Cube maybe.

Cube definitely. No questions about it.

 

[Dr Bass]

Star Wars movies aren’t sci-fi.

 

[diffusionx]

Blade Runner 2049 is the best one imo

and a great pleb filter

 

[Clear]

Wouldn't consider Frankenstein as SF at all. The science in it is basically stage-dressing, and aside from setting up the core premise of a modern Prometheus it plays no role in the story or its worldview.

I mean if you compare it to something like, say, Blade Runner, there's a speculative and futuristic dimension to the whole scenario, beyond the core concerns of what it is to be human.

Not trying to be super purist or anything, just that SF, Fantasy, and Horror may be adjacent genres but they are not the same. No matter how hard the media might carelessly lump them together now they are the pop-cultural mainstream.