Top 10 science fiction movies ever. From Stanley Kubrick to Steven Spielberg. Covering classics and more recent titles. This is the history of the cinema. Commented by Nic Weissman

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TOP 10
SCI-FI MOVIES
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2. #10 - BLADE RUNNER

3. #10 - BLADE RUNNER
Year: 1982
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by Hampton Fancher/David Peoples
Yeah, yeah, yeah... Blade Runner. Among top 3 in almost every other
sci-fi list. I had (somehow) made space for it in my top 10. But I am not
a very strong supporter. Film has many merits but also weaknesses.
Let me remind that when film came out critic was not acclaiming it ... at all. They
were divided to say the least. Film was a big failure commercially too. However
Blade Runner was not that bad. The fact that it was mostly ignored by a
dissapointed public left space to have film revisions later. The film is rich in many
ways. It is complex from story point of view, touching interesting topics like AI
transcendence and its relationship with humanity. Film is also beautiful visually. The
pace that was chosen to tell the story, mixed with the aesthetics, gave the film a
certain poetic touch. All those things together made it intriguing enough to become
a cult film that has been growing and growing in the collective mind after the initial
failure. I think that desire to make justice to an ignored film combined with all the
merits that it really has pushed the revision of the movie to a somewhat overstated
place. But still good enough to be in my top 10.

4. #9 – THE TERMINATOR

5. #9 - THE TERMINATOR
Year: 1984
Directed by James Cameron
Written by James Cameron/Gale Anne Hurd
James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar, Terminator 2, Abyss, etc) became a star with this
surprise success. Produced almost like an independent movie film was more limited
in ambition vs some of the super productions in the post Starwars era, but
somehow all the buttons were pushed rightly. Cameron was able to orchestrate a
merit movie where ENTERTAINMENT becomes a word in capital letters. It also made
Arnie an instant global star, with this robot-like character, that was truthfully perfect
for him.

6. #8 – WALL - E

7. #8 - WALL-E
Year: 2008
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton/Jim Reardon
I looooove Pixar. I think in a relatively short period of time they have produced an
unparallel bunch of animation masterpieces. You need to go through the 70 years of
history of Disney (or any other animation movies) to be able to compile a
comparable selection of films with the same level of quality and interest.
Wall-E is simply a great movie. A really great movie. It is also an interesting story
about consumerism and also how the “human” factor is still alive inside us, giving us
a hope to transcend that consumerism. Highly recommendable for kids and grown
up kids.

8. #7 – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

9. #7 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
Year: 1977
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Steven Spielberg
The Spielberg genius in action, creating another great movie.
The point is that statistically is very very very likely that we are not alone. And given
the amount of millions of years since universe was created is also very likely that
somewhere out there there are highly intelligent (and hopefully well intended)
aliens. If you accept this hypothesis, it is only a matter of time that we will meet
them. Well, if that is the case, why not tomorrow?
Would it be possible that an alien civilization would enter into our lives tomorrow?
Yes, it could happen!!!

10. #6 – STAR WARS

11. #6 - STAR WARS
Year: 1977
Directed by George Lucas
Screenplay: George Lucas
Well, it might not be the best... but is certainly the most important movie in this list.
There is a before and after, not only for science-fiction, but I would argue for the
whole film industry. Those studios that Lucas was able later to skip (so skillfully) owe
him big time for showing them the way to make so much more money. Merchandising
(as a key element of film industry revenue) was invented by this film.
The film became instantly the most successful movie ever and went beyond to become
popular culture. Some many kids open up their imagination and started to dream with the
space thanks to this movie.
The film had to overcome tremendous technical challenges. An advanced special effects
technology was required to make this movie. Only that such technology didn’t exist!! So they
had to make it up. In 1975 Lucas founded his iconic Industrial Light and Magic special effects
company that later served the industry to create a new generation of movies; so many
amazing innovations were created here! So many new fields of knowledge applicable to film
industry were open, that today there are 2 Oscar ceremonies: one for the artistic stuff and
another one for the technical. They simply couldn’t fit them all anymore in one show!
So, we talked about the money, about the cultural impact and about the technology. How
about the movie itself? Well it is a great movie, very entertaining. It has a relatively simple
structure, but a fantastically and credibly created alternative galaxy. History is relatively simple;
however there is also merit in how the overall structure of all the different episodes fit. In
short, cinema history!

12. #5 – ALIEN

13. #5 - ALIEN
Year: 1979
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon
Oh man! Here you have a super smart guy called Ridley Scott, responsible for a
handful package of great masterpieces (you can add Thelma & Louise and
Gladiator). He was smart in the way he blended the weird and attractive art of that
crazy Swiss guy called HR Giger. He was smart in the casting of the movie, where all
characters are killed one by one leaving the (back then) completely unknown
Sigourney Weaver to face the monster alone. All the tension and thriller effect are
achieved to a level only a master can get. He was also able to squeeze a relative
limited budget to produce a notable space feature film that would typically demand
much more money. He became an acclaimed star raising the expectations of his
next movie (Bladerunner) to the sky, which then became a big failure, as we
discussed. Awesome stuff!

14. #4 – E.T.

15. #4 – E.T.
Year: 1982
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Melissa Mathison
Spielberg made magic when he turned a weird and funny alien into the best friend
of an american kid in a typical (divorced) american family. He became part of that
family, a family that american recognized as their own. Every American would have
killed to protect ET from the government (or from whoever) after watching that
movie. That was how human that alien became. That was never done in cinema
before and took the general public to really finally turn towards a positive and
optimistic view of what aliens could potentially be (vs the horror/terror of 50/60s
series B movies, where the aliens where always BAD!).
One of the best Spielberg movies. One of the biggest successes in history of cinema.
If Lucas became an industry legend with Starwars, Spielberg did the same with ET.
Later Spielberg would show that he was not only able to produce blockbuster but
also other more formal masterpieces (Schindler’s List or Save Private Ryan).

16. #3 – METROPOLIS

17. #3 - METROPOLIS
Year: 1927
Director: Fritz Lang
Screenplay: Thea von Harbou
Metropolis is the Bladerunner of the silent cinema. Movie was a super
expected effort that (back then) was the most expensive movie ever.
But then movie was released and got mixed reviews disappointing many. Fritz Lang
Lang (historical cinema genius) also didn’t consider this movie
very highly. Same thing happens to Ridley Scott with Blade Runner.
But time has made this movie grow and grow in the collective
subconscious, as it has been reviewed appreciating the complexity and the
philosophical touch of the story and the ambitious of the production.
The movie represented a great technical and production effort and left many of the
early views speechless as they didn’t have reference of those “amazing” special
effects. Personally, I think creating a movie like this in the 20s had a big merit that
has to be recognized proportionally.

18. #2 – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

19. #2 - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Year: 1980
Director: Irvin Kershner
Screenplay: Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan
Every Star Wars fan knows Empire is the best movie of all. I was born in the first half of 70s
and somebody said once: “We are a generation marked by the bitter-sweet ending of The
empire strikes back”. I think this summarizes many things. Why is the movie great? Well, it
has all the many great things that all the other Starwars classic movies have. But on top of
that, it is the most human of all. It is the one that makes the best exploration of the feelings
and hence the most human features of the characters. It is the one to reveal the brutal drama
of the father figure. Also the romance Solo-Leia really develops in this film. Those were assets built here and
that then the whole saga would capitalize on. Something that I particularly enjoyed big time of Empire was
the humor, especially around Han Solo. That character grew so much in this movie...
On a very personal note, I would say that the best decision that Lucas took was when he decided NOT to
direct it. He did that because he was too busy with so many other things, and also because the first one
almost killed him being a brutally ambitious project (first Starwars), where everything sat on his lap. Also
because he become a bit lazy for what it takes to direct. Proof is he didn’t direct again till many years later.
But the reason why this was a great decision was that plot of Empire REQUIRED a good director of actors.
And in my personal view Lucas is not. He is many great things, but not that.
I believe Lucas faced the same challenge in Episode 2. The fundamental element was to tell the love story
that born and grew between Padme and Anakin. You need a director of actors for that. Look at the love
scenes in that movie. They just don’t work! And that hindered the whole movie (which was not that bad
otherwise) on a big way. But Lucas wanted to get the prestige the second time around. He was not humble
enough to know he couldn’t make it. He partially redeemed himself on Episode 3. But first trilogy, all
together, would have been so much stronger with a credible love story on Episode 2...
So, when Lucas decided to ask his teacher of Film School to direct the Empire… great decision.

20. #1 – 2001: SPACE ODISSEY

21. #1 – 2001: SPACE ODYSSEY
Year: 1968
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C Clarke
Well, what can we say here? Best sci-fi movie in history, almost by
anybody talking. I was not that original on this one, right? Kubrick was
a freaking genius. He was very special, in many ways. Very difficult to
work with. Something close to a maniac. But in the mid sixties he was decided to
create the ultimate sci-fi masterpiece. And he did it.
In the list of this top 10 there are many great directors (all of them). But none get to
the level of Kubrick (well, let’s get Fritz Lang in this category too). I could write for
hours about the amazing career of Kubrick, but let’s restrict ourselves to this movie.
Story: Wrote together with one of the most important sci-fi writers in history (and
“inventor” of the communications satellite): Arthur C Clarke. Screenplay is based on
a short story by Clarke called The Sentinel. Yes, that is true! The book was written
later! Not the other way around. Well, this is not accurate the book was written in
parallel but the bottom line is that the movie could not be inspired by an existing
book, as it usually happens with movies based on books.

22. #1 - 2001: SPACE ODYSSEY
Technically: Amazing effects. Lots of pioneering here. But also...
truthful. Several science advisors (like physics and alike) were consulted
in high detail to make sure that every piece (how gravity or lack of it
works, how artificial gravity could be created, how things move into
space, etc) would be truthful to reality. In the movie space scenes are
in total silence... Sounds don’t propagate in space, so it has to be like
that! Compare that with the x-figther from Star wars flying close to you
from the left to the right loudspeaker at home! Or the noise of the blasts
and lasers in the space battles. None of that could be true!
Music: Richard Strauss made this amazing and really spectacular piece called “Thus Spoke
Zarathustra”. It is reproduced in the key moments of the film and really captures attention. The
soundtrack was also full of classical music; a great idea of accompanying the movement of
spaceships following the waltz music is legen-(wait for it)-dary (Herbert von Karajan
conducting the Vienna Philharmonic).
The film had very limited dialogue. Very few things were explained leaving the majority of the
public simply missing majority of the story. Kubrick wanted to intentionally keep it that way as
he later explained: “How much would we appreciate La Gioconda today if Leonardo had
written at the bottom of the canvas: "This lady is smiling slightly because she has rotten
teeth"—or "because she's hiding a secret from her lover"? It would shut off the viewer's
appreciation and shackle him to a reality other than his own. I don't want that to happen to
2001." One suggestion? Read the book and then watch the movie again... you will enjoy a
magnificent spectacle!

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