# Best Sci Fi Movie Ever?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 2, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135 "2005-11-02T19:13:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shat)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/1 "2005-11-02T19:13:52Z")
I would have to go with Lord of The Rings. That was simply top notch!
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### Author:  [@The\_People\_s\_Knee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_People_s_Knee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/2 "2005-11-02T19:19:27Z")
> [@Shat](#):
>
> I would have to go with Lord of The Rings. That was simply top notch!
I agree 100%. LOTR is hard to beat on this issue.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/3 "2005-11-02T19:20:35Z")
I, on the other hand, would qualify it as one of the top Fantasy movies of all times. For Sci Fi movies, I would rather nominate something like Blade Runner.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/4 "2005-11-02T19:23:10Z")
Hmmm – I suppose you’re welcome to coin your own definition, but “Lord of the Rings” doesn’t qualify as “science fiction” as the term is defined by the overwhelming majority of users, and that includes Tolkien himself. it’s Heroic or Epic Fantasy, and an excellent example o such.
My favorite Science Fiction Movie, as I’ve said many times before, is either **2001: A Space Odyssey** or **Forbidden Planet** , depending on what day it is. The former is the best translation into film of 1950s science fiction, while the latter is the best translation into film of 1940s-era science fiction. The fact that they were released in, respectively, 1968 and 1956 shows that filmmakers are at least ten years out of touch with their source material.
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### Author:  [@Shat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shat)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/5 "2005-11-02T19:24:33Z")
Sorry Cal but you are dead wrong, LOTR is clearly Sci Fi dealing with the science of Middle Earth.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/6 "2005-11-02T19:25:13Z")
**LotR** isn’t Science Fiction for the simple reason that there is zero science in it.
My nomination: **Forbidden Planet**
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### Author:  [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/7 "2005-11-02T19:25:59Z")
not to pick on CalM, but I just dont understand people who think 2001: A Space Odyssey is a good movie. My lord, that movie bored me to tears!
In anycase, best sci-fi, if you consider it sci-fi, has to be the first Star Wars movie.
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### Author:  [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/8 "2005-11-02T19:27:23Z")
Dear lord, if you consider Tolkien to be “sci-fi” then you probably drink white zinfandel and eat well-done steaks.
Philistine.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/10 "2005-11-02T19:31:40Z")
Another vote for the magnificent **2001**.
Honorable runners-up: _The City of Lost Children, Close Encounters, Forbidden Planet, The Incredible Shrinking Man, La Jetee, Metropolis, The Terminator_
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/11 "2005-11-02T19:33:06Z")
So far it looks like GUESTS = LOTR is sf; MEMBERS = LOTR not sf (including me).
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### Author:  [@Shat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shat)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/12 "2005-11-02T19:35:43Z")
It’s clearly Sci Fi…LOL, the fact that you think otherwise is amazing.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/13 "2005-11-02T19:36:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> not to pick on CalM, but I just dont understand people who think 2001: A Space Odyssey is a good movie. My lord, that movie bored me to tears!
>
> In anycase, best sci-fi, if you consider it sci-fi, has to be the first Star Wars movie.
Not to pick on **Dob** , but if you consider the first **Star Wars** movie to be good science fiction, you need to re-examine your definitions. It’s a _great_ piece of science fantasy, with the trappings of science fiction that I wish every science fiction film had. But it’s a child’s-eye view of the workings of the adult world and politics. If you translated the events into modern-day “mundane” equivalents, you’d never be able to take it seriously.
You can’t say that for 2001. I point to it when I want to show that science fiction can hold its own as a mature medium. Especially in its time, it was an awesome film. It still holds up today, but not if your standard is fast-moving shoot-em-ups.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/14 "2005-11-02T19:39:15Z")
> [@lno](#):
>
> Dear lord, if you consider Tolkien to be “sci-fi” then you probably drink white zinfandel and eat well-done steaks.
>
> Philistine.
😃 :snerk: Philistine indeed.
Shat, be sure that this is all good natured ribbing, no one here means any harm.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/15 "2005-11-02T19:39:34Z")
> [@shat](#):
>
> It’s clearly Sci Fi…LOL, the fact that you think otherwise is amazing.
From merriam-webster online:
Fantasy: d : imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters – called also fantasy fiction
Science fiction: : fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as an essential orienting component
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/16 "2005-11-02T19:45:40Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#):
>
> So far it looks like GUESTS = LOTR is sf; MEMBERS = LOTR not sf (including me).
If by GUESTS you mean GUESTS WHO ALL SIGNED UP RIGHT NEAR ONE ANOTHER AND ARE PARTICIPATING IN EXACTLY THE SAME THREADS OVER AND OVER TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER IN UNPOPULAR POSITIONS, then I agree. Of course, that takes longer to type.
Daniel
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### Author:  [@Shat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shat)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/17 "2005-11-02T19:48:01Z")
LMAO, yeah Danny, it’s a conspiracy…how’s that tin foil hat Chachi?
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/18 "2005-11-02T19:51:36Z")
Much as I love it, the \*LOTR \* movie trilogy just isn’t science fiction. It’s got the fiction, but not the science - I’d call it a mythic/fantasy/adventure. A little hard to categorize, but clearly not sci fi.
For best sci fi movie ever (dear Lord, can I only pick one?) I’d have to go with \*2001 \*, also. But close on its heels would be _Dark City, Blade Runner, Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, ST First Contact_, and _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_.
And, if you’re willing to stretch the definition a little bit, _The Incredibles_.
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### Author:  [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/19 "2005-11-02T19:54:10Z")
Well if we go by the SciFi channel’s standards, then Fantasy and Horror are SciFi. I, however, vote that they’re not and LOTR is not. At all. (I waver on Star Wars - there are elements of both Fantasy and SciFi in there, but to me it’s clearly speculative enough to tip it towards SciFi. )
I can’t decide between BladeRunner and 2001 for best SciFi. [shrug] Not very original, I know - but they are the best.
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### Author:  [@The\_People\_s\_Knee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_People_s_Knee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/20 "2005-11-02T20:01:47Z")
> [@uglybeech](#):
>
> Well if we go by the SciFi channel’s standards, then Fantasy and Horror are SciFi. I, however, vote that they’re not and LOTR is not. At all. (I waver on Star Wars - there are elements of both Fantasy and SciFi in there, but to me it’s clearly speculative enough to tip it towards SciFi. )
>
> I can’t decide between BladeRunner and 2001 for best SciFi. [shrug] Not very original, I know - but they are the best.
Wasn’t it Isaac Asimov who said (please forgive the damage that I am about to inflict on this quote) something like science is often considered magic by a more primitive civilization?
I think Ethilrist’s defintions would classify LOTR as science in that regard.
BTW, Blade Runner was clearly fantasy. It even had unicorns in the movie for god’s sake.
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### Author:  [@The\_People\_s\_Knee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_People_s_Knee)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sci-fi-movie-ever/329135/21 "2005-11-02T20:07:11Z")
> [@uglybeech](#):
>
> Well if we go by the SciFi channel’s standards, then Fantasy and Horror are SciFi. I, however, vote that they’re not and LOTR is not. At all. (I waver on Star Wars - there are elements of both Fantasy and SciFi in there, but to me it’s clearly speculative enough to tip it towards SciFi. )
>
> I can’t decide between BladeRunner and 2001 for best SciFi. [shrug] Not very original, I know - but they are the best.
Wasn’t it Isaac Asimov who said (please forgive the damage that I am about to inflict on this quote) something like science is often considered magic by a more primitive civilization?
I think Ethilrist’s defintions would classify LOTR as science in that regard.
BTW, Blade Runner was clearly fantasy. It even had unicorns in the movie for god’s sake.
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