Top 40 Greatest Science-Fiction Films
A few months ago, I listed the Top 20 Greatest Science-Fiction Novels. Science-fiction also lends itself to the visual medium, though, and as influential and important as those 20 novels are, the following 40 movies are probably more familiar and influential for most of us. Numbers 11-40 are listed without commentary, but the top ten deserve some explanation, if not justification. As usual, I disclaim that this is my personal list and I do not ask you to agree with it. Also, I restricted myself to the following rules:
(1) This is a science-fiction list, and as such, I did not include anything that could better be classified as fantasy or sci-fi/fantasy. Therefore, you will not find things like Star Wars or Flash Gordon on this list. You also won't find anything that is based on a comic book, even if the hero happens to be from another planet like Krypton.
(2) I could only include one movie per director. There are a few directors that made this especially difficult, like Steven Spielberg, David Cronenberg, and Richard Fleischer, but I stuck with it, picking the best film from each and discarding the rest.
(3) Lastly, I didn't want to include anything released after 2009, which unfortunately excludes Inception or any other science-fiction movie released this year.
THE TOP 40-11
 |
40. The Cell, 2000, Tarsem Singh
39. Twelve Monkeys, 1995, Terry Gilliam
38. Predator, 1987, John McTiernan
37. Re-Animator, 1985, Stuart Gordon
36. The Lawnmower Man, 1992, Brett Leonard
|
35. Demolition Man, 1993, Marco Brambilla
34. Moon, 2009, Duncan Jones
33. Donnie Darko, 2001, Richard Kelly
32. La Jetee, 1962, Chris Marker
31. Enemy Mine, 1985, Wolfgang Petersen
|  |  |
30. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978, Philip Kaufman
29. The Time Machine, 1960, George Pal
28. Vanilla Sky, 2001, Cameron Crowe
27. Soylent Green, 1973, Richard Fleischer
26. District 9, 2009, Neill Blomkamp
|
25. The Running Man, 1987, Paul Michael Glaser
24. Children of Men, 2006, Alfonso Cuaron
23. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Michel Gondry
22. Strange Days, 1995, Kathryn Bigelow
21. Tron, 1982, Steven Lisberger
|  |  |
20. Dark City, 1998, Alex Proyas
19. Gojira, 1954, Ishiro Honda
18. Event Horizon, 1997, Paul W. S. Anderson
17. The Matrix, 1999, Andy and Larry Wachowski
16. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977, Steven Spielberg
|
15. Until the End of the World, 1991, Wim Wenders
14. The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951, Robert Wise
13. The Thing, 1982, John Carpenter
12. Primer, 2004, Shane Carruth
11. The Fly, 1986, David Cronenberg
|  |
|
|
40. The Cell, 2000, Tarsem Singh
39. Twelve Monkeys, 1995, Terry Gilliam
38. Predator, 1987, John McTiernan
37. Re-Animator, 1985, Stuart Gordon
36. The Lawnmower Man, 1992, Brett Leonard
| |
|
35. Demolition Man, 1993, Marco Brambilla
34. Moon, 2009, Duncan Jones
33. Donnie Darko, 2001, Richard Kelly
32. La Jetee, 1962, Chris Marker
31. Enemy Mine, 1985, Wolfgang Petersen
| |
|
30. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978, Philip Kaufman
29. The Time Machine, 1960, George Pal
28. Vanilla Sky, 2001, Cameron Crowe
27. Soylent Green, 1973, Richard Fleischer
26. District 9, 2009, Neill Blomkamp
| |
|
25. The Running Man, 1987, Paul Michael Glaser
24. Children of Men, 2006, Alfonso Cuaron
23. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, Michel Gondry
22. Strange Days, 1995, Kathryn Bigelow
21. Tron, 1982, Steven Lisberger
| |
|
20. Dark City, 1998, Alex Proyas
19. Gojira, 1954, Ishiro Honda
18. Event Horizon, 1997, Paul W. S. Anderson
17. The Matrix, 1999, Andy and Larry Wachowski
16. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977, Steven Spielberg
| |
|
15. Until the End of the World, 1991, Wim Wenders
14. The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951, Robert Wise
13. The Thing, 1982, John Carpenter
12. Primer, 2004, Shane Carruth
11. The Fly, 1986, David Cronenberg
|
-e. magill 8/17/2010
|
|
