Esquire:
Cinema exists to project our dreams. Science-fiction cinema exists to project our most creative dreams—time-travel, alternate worlds, expanded consciousness, and more. That’s why we’re science-fiction maniacs and why we gathered up our top 100 movies.
Interesting list and a great primer for those unfamiliar with the genre.
So much on that list doesn’t belong. The Black Hole (crap), Men In Black (not Sci-Fi) , Star Trek First Contact (weak) , Contact (crap), Outland (remake of a western, but in space), every sequel or reboot of Planet of the Apes.
I laugh anytime somebody claims that a movie centered around extraterrestrials isn’t sci-fi.
Good list but I think they got the order reversed.
Their comment about Starship Troopers sounding like Nazi Propaganda is not a coincidence. Heinlein was a believer in fascism, and anyone who read the book would not be surprised.
I have to agree with a many of movies in that list, though not the order. And they seem to confuse horror and science fiction. They are not alone in such confusion. Most booksellers make the ludicrous link between fantasy and sci-fi. Which is just stupid. How could one confuse the work of Iain M. Banks, Peter Stross, Canadian Peter Watts, with fairies and princesses having romances with magical princes, or with Conan the Barbarian, unicorns and wizards?
But it’s a matter of taste I suppose. Fantasy and real sic-fi have no connection in my book!
No kidding. That’s another beef I have with so many people’s opinions about science fiction. Peter Stross is a perfect example of just how close to home sic-fi can be.
I laugh anytime someone thinks having extraterrestrials in a movie automatically qualifies it as science fiction.
Heinlein was a believer in “fascism” in the most facile litcrit sense of perverting of definitions to invent something new to write about. True, the movie seemed like fascist propaganda, unapologetically it was, but it wasn’t Heinlein’s version. The movie’s vision was Paul Verhoeven’s.
I started from #1. Doing great until Wrath of Khan (#8) and then me and list parted ways. The best thing about Logan’s Run (#16) was an adolescent fascination with Jenny Agutter.
Children of Men (#20) deserved to be way ahead of both of those films. Same with A Clockwork Orange (#28).
Pretty much does.
Doesn’t matter if it was facile, or not. The book is about a fascist world.
Kids today really don’t understand what a culture shift the original Star Wars (e4) was! That should have been higher.
Am I the only one who just gets Escape From New York 100 times…??
Nope, me too
Same here. Escape From New York was good, but it isn’t all 100 of the best 100 Sci-Fi movies ever.
Same here. multiple browser, multiple devices. Snake Plisken running the website?
It’s all that Feedburner junk they add after the URL that screwed it up.
I really wish Jim and crew would move away from Feedburner.
http://www.esquire.com/print-this/100-best-sci-fi-movies-esqsyn?page=all