• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Counts Down His Top Ten Sci-Fi Movies

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kraftwerk

Member
What follows are Neil deGrasse Tyson’s top ten favorite sci-fi movies, in chronological order, with one honorable mention. You may find some of them surprising.

I like big-budget science fiction films. My list, with two exceptions, bears this out. I want science fiction films to stretch the talent and imagination of visual effects experts. And the film above all else should create a vision of the future we either know that we don’t want, or know that we do.
Click to expand...

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The story was so strong and compelling that the film did not require heavy special effects or monsters or violence to be simultaneously hopeful and terrifying.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Perhaps the first film to be all about the discovery of alien intelligence yet not show what it looks like, knowing that our imagination could surely do a better job than Hollywood. In any case, it was a visual orgy of space travel and space exploration that we remain far from achieving, even 13 years after the 33 years-in-the-future it portrayed.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Saw this again recently and it held up over all these years in many important details. Had not appreciated when I first saw it. The hierarchy of apes that ran the planet, chimps were the academics, baboons were the soldiers, orangutans were the diplomats. An action-adventure movie that was an insightful mirror to our lives and our civilization.

The Terminator (1984)

Deftly woven action, violence, sentient machines, a heroine and time travel. All stitched together in a tight and scarily plausible storyline. And, when you think about it, a perfect acting vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a mostly mute terminator, whom many would rather look at than listen to.

The Quiet Earth (1985)

Low budget, low distribution. One of many films that imagine for you what life might be like if you were the last person alive on Earth. In this case, the premise, the story, the casual science literacy of the main character, keeps the viewer in suspense the entire time, wondering what the hell happened and why.

Contact (1997)

The second film that I know of that is all about contact with alien intelligence and yet does not offer you a glimpse of what they look like. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Carl Sagan advised Arthur C. Clarke to not show aliens in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and “Contact” itself is Carl Sagan’s Story. A brilliant exploration of how our culturally and religiously pluralistic society might react to the knowledge that we have been contacted by a species more intelligent than we are.

Deep Impact (1998)

There have been many asteroid/comet disaster films. But this one took the time to get most of the physics right, and made sure you cared about all the characters in the film so that their prospect of dying matters to the viewer. And Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of the president of the United States may be the best ever.

The Matrix (1999)

My top film in any category. From the opening credits to final scenes, every moment of this film is so fully conceived and so well executed that in spite of the complete fantasy world portrayed, the viewer was there, experiencing it with the characters themselves.

The Island (2005)

Apart from too many minutes of gratuitous chase scenes, I think this movie is profound in its message as well as visually stunning. A rare study of science in the service of vanity, mixed with an exploration of corporate profits, human identity and free will. I’ve always viewed Gattaca (1997) as a lower-budget cousin of this film.

Watchmen (2009)

I don’t know if I am alone in thinking that Watchmen is the best-of-genre among all superhero films. I liked it because the characters had fully expressed, complex personality profiles. They experience love, hate, revenge, megalomania, moral anguish and trepidation. Nothing polished about them. For this reason, they were all more real to me. If the world really did have superheroes in it, “Watchmen” is the world it would be.

And the runner up is…

Blade Runner (1982)

This story was simultaneously deep and scary. But I never warmed to it the way so many lovers of the genre have. Which makes this comment more of a confession than a review.

There are, admittedly, some unexpected titles on this list. 2001, Blade Runner, you’re likely to see those on most top sci-fi lists. You don’t, however, come across Zach Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen on too many, and Michael Bay’s The Island appears on even less.
Click to expand...

Source

Seen all of these. Not really a surprising list. Except the fact that he disses Gattaca :"(
 
C

Cmerrill

You don't need to be empathetic towards me.
Pretty "Meh" list, to be honest. I expected better from him.

That list needs:

Moon.
District 9
Serenity
Alien
 
N

Night Hunter

Banned
Watchmen (2009)

I don’t know if I am alone in thinking that Watchmen is the best-of-genre among all superhero films. I liked it because the characters had fully expressed, complex personality profiles. They experience love, hate, revenge, megalomania, moral anguish and trepidation. Nothing polished about them. For this reason, they were all more real to me. If the world really did have superheroes in it, “Watchmen” is the world it would be.
Click to expand...

My man!
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Island is there, not Gattaca. Says its the "low budget cousin" of Island

Neil DeGrasse Tyson no longer cool confirmed.
 
F

Faiz

Member
Honestly surprised that each selection isn't couched in language about what it also did wrong, haha
 
K

kswiston

Member
I wonder how many movies he actually watches on an annual basis. Just because you are a big name in science doesn't make you all that qualified to discuss sci fi movies if you aren't widely versed in the genre.
 
B

block tower

Member
The Island (2005)

Apart from too many minutes of gratuitous chase scenes, I think this movie is profound in its message as well as visually stunning. A rare study of science in the service of vanity, mixed with an exploration of corporate profits, human identity and free will. I’ve always viewed Gattaca (1997) as a lower-budget cousin of this film.
Click to expand...

i loved this movie too, the whole life lottery and cloning subtext was great!
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
kswiston said:
I wonder how many movies he actually watches on an annual basis. Just because you are a big name in science doesn't make you all that qualified to discuss sci fi movies if you aren't widely versed in the genre.
Click to expand...

if a bunch of random assholes on the internet can discuss sci-fi movies I think Neil Degrasse Tyson can.
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
Interesting list. I won't take the opportunity to throw any stones, considering some of my favorites might be somewhat...deviant.

*ahem...Chronicles of Riddick...cough*

kswiston said:
I wonder how many movies he actually watches on an annual basis. Just because you are a big name in science doesn't make you all that qualified to discuss sci fi movies if you aren't widely versed in the genre.
Click to expand...

Didn't know you had to be an expert to discuss the things you like. It's not like it's a definitive treatise on "what you must like!"
 
K

kswiston

Member
demon said:
if a bunch of random assholes on the internet can discuss sci-fi movies I think Neil Degrasse Tyson can.
Click to expand...

I guess I meant discuss with authority. His opinion holds as much weight as anyone here.

EDIT: I suppose is does say favourite and not best.
 
K

kswiston

Member
ЯAW;115155145 said:
Yes it is.
Click to expand...

Star Wars is a fantasy film if you want to get picky about genre definitions. In common language though, people equate space with sci fi I suppose.
 
B

btrboyev

Member
ЯAW;115155547 said:
Alien is a horror film, Blade Runner is a noir film, Terminator is action film, etc.
Maybe not hard scifi but all of them are scifi.
Click to expand...

Science Fiction at it's heart is based around scientifically plausible science. Even the Terminator with time travel.

Star Wars deals with worlds beyond our scope and also things like the Force(Magic) which are not scientifically plausible.

What have I done?
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
Star Wars seems more like fantasy with spaceships to me than sci-fi.
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
btrboyev said:
Science Fiction at it's heart is based around scientifically plausible science. Even the Terminator with time travel.

Star Wars deals with worlds beyond our scope and also things like the Force(Magic) which are not scientifically plausible.

What have I done?
Click to expand...
Prepare for a world of hurt, my friend. And tears. Many tears.
 
K

kswiston

Member
ЯAW;115155547 said:
Alien is a horror film, Blade Runner is a noir film, Terminator is action film, etc.
Click to expand...

Terminator and Blade Runner follow the traditional conventions of science fiction in that science/technology is used as commentary on societal trends and/or the human condition.

Alien has less of that I guess, other than some side commentary on the ruthlessness of corporations.

Star Wars is a fantasy story, focused on fantasy worlds/species, that happens to be set in a society that is post-space age instead of medieval era. While I still like that genre, I don't really count it as science fiction. There's no science to be had in the source movies.

EDIT: Also, soft sci-fi books are books that deal with "soft sciences" like sociology, psychology, or speculative cultures/politics/etc. It's true that they don't attempt to adhere to the theories of the physical sciences as closely as hard sci fi, but social/cultural commentary is still a main theme.
 
Ð

ЯAW

Banned
btrboyev said:
Science Fiction at it's heart is based around scientifically plausible science. Even the Terminator with time travel.

Star Wars deals with worlds beyond our scope and also things like the Force(Magic) which are not scientifically plausible.

What have I done?
Click to expand...
Woah, we have to assign new genres to some great scifi books by those standards.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Exodus ( Mass Effect creators ) - Sci-Fi RPG - Mara-Yama Trailer
2 3
101
7K
Drake replied
Ridley Scott interview - sharks in the colosseum, Maximus returning from the afterlife to kill Jesus Christ, asleep at the wheel for Prometheus
45
2K
dem replied
PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for December: It Takes Two, Aliens: Dark Descent, Temtem
News Platform
41
2K
nial replied
Starfield Q&A on Discord Details
15
2K
balls of snow replied
Starfield Devs Q&A Session
37
3K
Hendrick's replied
Top Bottom