I started writing about the generic topic “favorite movies” but I quickly realized that the list of the movies that I love the most was too long, so I decided to limit the topic to a specific film genre: science fiction movies.
Sorted by how much I like them, here are my favorite sci-fi movies:
If you look at my profile there keep in mind that the list of watched films you can see there is widely incomplete and mostly random. And letterboxd only lets you select 4 favourite films, so I tried to be as eclectic as possible and choose from 4 different decades.
I would count all of those films you listed among my favourites and if you like Star Trek Forbidden Planet is a great choice as it can be considered a forerunner to Roddenberry´s creations.
Another favourite I have mentioned here before is the New Zealandian film The Quiet Earth to which I won´t like the poster because it bloody spoils the ending by showing the very moment before the ending credits roll!
As for TV shows next to Star Trek I liked the X-Files when it was new (and really enjoyed a recent partly rewatch) and consider the original Twilight Zone to be one of the greatest things in television history.
I feel like I will frequently return to this topic.
Blade Runner
Tron
Time Masters
The Quiet Earth
2001
Fantastic Planet
Back To The Future
Original Star Wars Trilogy
Alien
Aliens
Heavy Metal
John Carpenters The Thing
Terminator 1 & 2
The Roadwarrior
Escape From New York
The Wrath Of Khan and The Voyage Home
Lifeforce
Robocop
They Live
12 Monkeys
A Clockwork Orange is more of social specualtive fiction and not very heavy on science (well in a way it is but less with technology).
I have a soft spot for the films of Jack Arnold like The Incredible Shrinking Man and Tarantula.
Also Them! and The Day The Earth Stood Still are classics.
I saw the Fifth Element at theaters and while it´s not really very good I still enjoy it a lot.
I´ve also seen every single episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I get a kick out of Kaiju and generally bad giant monster movies like The Angry Red Planet.
Recent films I liked include Moon, Ex Machina, Mad Max Fury Road and Arrival.
Nothing very interesting to say. I recommend the novel “rendesvouz with Rama”. I’d like more sci-fi like that. I haven’t read much scifi because I can’t seem to find something like that
Yes, that’s probably one of my favourite sci-fi movies (not properly or not only a sci-fi movie). The original french name would be “The wild planet” (1973).
A clip in English:
I like also the first Alien, Blade Runner and Planet of the Apes (the one with Charlton Heston, but I recently watched Apes Revolution -2014 - and it was good). 2001 is a great movie. Metropolis has a strong visionary power. Also Jurassic Park if we can force it into the genre of sci-fi. For series I don’t have enough patience to watch them. But I remember I enjoyed watching Quantum Leap (by Donald P. Bellisario).
I´ve seen all the old ones and the remake but in an unusual twist only heard great things about the reboot trilogy, especially the most recent one, have yet to see them though.
I’m aware of that and I’ll take full responsibility for the consequences.
You have a very nice list of movies. Sooner or later (but more probably later) I will put online the list of my DVDs, assuming that I will not sell them.
I have watched most of the sci-fi movies that you have listed and I have a soft spot especially for the cheesy sci-fi stories of the fifties. I also love the art style of the posters of the films of that period: the more they are exaggerated, the more I like them.
The poster of Forbidden Planet is a good example, but you start realizing how “cheap” the marketing of those movies was when you observe that a lot of these posters were pretty much identical:
Forbidden Planet:
Tobor the Great:
Robot Monster:
By the way, Robot Monster is probably one of the most idiotic and awful movies ever created, which means that it deserves to be watched, at least for a few minutes.
From the fifties, I would say that my favorite ones are “This Island Earth”, “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “Them” (which inspired one of my favorite games by Cinemaware: “IT cam from the desert”). “Invaders from Mars” is also good.
I suggest you to add to your collection “Invasion of the Saucer Men”, because it’s bad but funny. The way the aliens kill people makes no sense at all and I suspect that the writers chose it just for letting people laugh.
I could go on and on, so I will not.
I don’t think I’ve watched it, thanks for the suggestion.
I remember reading the Wikipedia article about this movie. Isn’t the premise similar to the one in “I am legend”?
That’s the only Star Trek movie that I like. Montalban was simply great and he shows that he can accomplish fantastic results even with no midgets around.
This is not the first time I stumble upon this novel. Why is it special for you?
I loved the book. The character Ian Malcolm is a mathematician who talks about fractals and chaos theory, the book even contains examples of how the Dragon Curve evolves iteration after iteration. And… of course the movie has nothing of this, even if it explains why Malcolm thinks that people should let mother nature to do its job undisturbed.
I don’t remember precisely, but it was so incredibly interesting. You really could not wait to know the real purpose of those alien artifacts. Also, it truly felt like being there.
Yes, Jeff Goldblum in the movie plays a role which is secondary and way less speculative. Fractals… interesting. I’ll probably read the book, sooner or later.
Waaaa! That was among the movies I liked most as a child!
I’m curious to watch Barbarella, I’ve ever seen only parts and drawings from the original comics.
This was featured in MST3K The Movie, but is actually very watchable on it´s own. This actually has a few paralells with Zak McKracken (Aliens with Tall heads that disguised themselves as humans, a part where a biplane gets beamed up into an UFO). Favourite riff from the movie: In the scene where they hit the Alien with the exposed Brain on the head “Ouch, there go the piano lessons!”
I like the old one, but I might be prefering the 70s version with Donald Sutherland because it introduced the gaping mouth scream with the finger pointing that has since become iconic and copied and parodied in later versions. Also for one of the meanest twist endings in movie history.
A classic had a big influence on James Camerons Aliens. It features a mute shocked girl and ends with the destruction of eggs by flamethrowers in a queens chamber.
Like the old one and Tobe Hooper´s remake. The old one is plotwise very similar to another cheesy movie called It Conqured The Earth (starring Lee Van Cleef And Peter Graves) it also has been featured on MST3K and got some fame by being talked about on stage by Frank Zappa in his song Cheepnis.
Is that the film that has aliens that influenced the design of the angry newscaster alien on Futurama (forgot his name)?
Kind of. It´s a last man on earth film, but it remains with 3 people and doesn´t feature any Vampires or Zombies (like in the Omega Man).
I won´t because I rewatched it only a while ago and actually had a pretty good time. Many of the criticism seems to come from people remembering it wrong. Leah Thompsons own daughter described the film on a Conan as if it featured actually bestiality. Some people have fantasies…anyway I thought it was better than I remembered it (even back then my opinion was tainted by it´s notorierty) and there is much worse out there. Like Mac And Me or Nukie…
“…and by the way thanks Flash!” “What for Vultan?” “For giving an old bird another chance!” Brian Blessed is awesome!
There is even some drawings inside. Not Mandelbrot but different. I remember trying to draw some myself in that style.
The book has a lot more elements from the 2nd (the little girl being attacked by the tiny dinosaurs) and 3rd (the pterodactyl house) movies and different characters die. So you might still be in for some surprises.
It’s a masterpiece, in my opinion. It shows the failed attempt by Jodorowsky to adapt Dune for the big screen. It was a visionary project. The storyboards were drawn by Moebius and other art was done by Giger.
Fascinating stuff. All these people would go on to do other amazing stuff.
And it all connects to the Heavy Metal Comic Magazine (Metal Hurlant in france to which Moebius, Jodorowsky, Giger, O´Bannon and more have contributed).
Jodorowsky is one of the most fascinating mad men who have ever created anything. And the thumbnail of that above video perfectly illustrates that!
I’ve been a massive fan of The X Files since I was about 14. I was obsessed. I own a crap tonne of merchandise, every episode on DVD and most episodes on VHS, haha. For my media studies project at school I co-wrote a fan fiction story and took photos of us all dressed as the characters (including some of my teachers).
Once I even met Gillian Anderson after seeing her in a play. The conversation went thus:
Me: I’m a big fan. Please can you sign my programme?
GA: What’s that all over it?
Me: Peanut grease.
My friend finds it eye-wateringly funny that I finally meet my idol and that was the exchange of words
