Top 11 Favorite Sci-Fi films
Many great ones, but these 11 have stayed with me strongly throughout the years.
List activity
20 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
11 titles
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAfter a dinosaur-like beast - awoken from undersea hibernation by atom bomb testing - ravages Tokyo, a scientist must decide if his similarly dangerous weapon should be used to destroy it.The original Japanese Godzilla film, and from what I've seen the one by far with the most actual story in it. All the sequels and remakes might be just monster mash, but this is a poignant take on the environmental damage humans are doing to the planet, and the unimaginable consequences we one day might suffer for it. If Godzilla ever does rise up from the seas, we can't say we didn't deserve it.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.The most far-reaching, epic space movie ever made. But it's more than a film, it is a meditative experience on the very beginning of how man was made, what it says about us, and how we are evolving into the stars. It's not for everyone as plenty will find it "slow" if they are not aware of what it is trying to achieve, but when you are in the proper frame of mind, it is mind-blowing.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.The most badass and action-packed of the entries, but at the same time very interesting exploration of robotics and artificial intelligence, with one of the most surprisingly strong emotional punches. "I know now why you cry."
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.Definitely the most easy-going and fun of the entries, but why I love this so much more than all of its bland follow-ups is how rooted it was in the adventure and discovery of a whole new world - an ancient world with ancient creatures made possible by futuristic technology.
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsEthan HawkeUma ThurmanJude LawA genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.Truly fascinating and prophetic vision into gene manipulation, and what it will mean for how we limit, improve, and define human beings. A story about that transcendent quality humans have that can't be quantified and qualified, the "human spirit" fighting against what science will tell us are impossible odds. The most quotable and perhaps emotionally impactful Sci-Fi film I've seen. “You wanna know how I did it?...I never saved anything for the swim back.”
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.Similar themes as Gatacca about searching for what is really human amongst the staged and manufactured, with an almost equally powerful emotion impact. No surprise, as they were both written by the same writer, Andrew Niccol. Sci-fi comedies are often hard to pull off, but this is the best in its category.
- DirectorJames McTeigueStarsHugo WeavingNatalie PortmanRupert GravesIn a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.Admittedly the least "sci-fi" of the bunch, and more of a political action-thriller. It's anarchistic spirit can be and has been adapted by different political ideologies, but centrally it is about the power of the people, the rise of the proletariat against authority and dictatorships. The biggest lie this world has fabricated is that governments are more powerful than the people, when in truth the government belongs and is supposed to BE the people.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.Probably the most "out there" of the list, as it has a very non-linear plot and isn't for everyone. The story, however, told through some of the most amazing images you'll see, is the deepest exploration of the human fear of death, the resistance against death, and the acceptance of the mystery and the unknown that it brings that I have watched.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.Mind-bending jump into alternate realities and dreams, obviously heavily theoretical stuff, but a thrilling plot with one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.
- DirectorRupert WyattStarsJames FrancoAndy SerkisFreida PintoA substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee who leads an ape uprising.Of all the franchises, disappointing sequels and so on, this movie was the one truly successful presentation of the brilliant concept. This film also delves deep into what it means to be human - and why 'humanity' may not be as species-contained as we may think. Like Godzilla, it warns that the natural world will not forever consent to slavery. "No!" - for my money, the most powerful one-worded ever uttered on film.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsMatthew McConaugheyAnne HathawayJessica ChastainWhen Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.There are many things humans can reach out and try and grasp as concepts, but are ultimately above us - time, the true vastness of space being two. The movie is a paradox in more ways than some, at times seem to fully escape our understanding, but then so are time and space. The one constant that humans can hold on to through the mysteries of the universe is your connection with one another. For its scope, its themes, its expanse, it's one of the most ambitious films ever made.