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 SciFi in that regard.
BTW, Blade Runner was clearly fantasy. It even had unicorns in the movie for god’s sake (Director’s Cut).
And let this be a lesson to all of you. Doubleposting is okay, but triple posting will get you banned.
lol
Duh. The Killer Shrews. A masterpiece :).
Best foreign sf film - Attack of the Mushroom People, a Japanese classic which I believe was a seminal influence on Kurosawa.
Another saying that LOTR is fantasy, not sci-fi. They’re using midevel tech in a magical world, with elves, orcs, dwarves and the like.
Hell, they’s almost the very definition of Fantasty.
Sci-fi tends to deal with some kind of scientific concept, even if done is a very causual way(Back to the Future was Sci-fi, but also comedic).
Star Wars could technically be called sci-fi, but the whole force thing(which is basically magic) and the fact it is organized like heros quest gives it a more fantasy feel.
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
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[/QUOTE
I gotta go with the Incredible Shrinking Man.The speech he gives as he becomes part of the universe made me look at life a little differently.
…which makes me think of the Sicilian.
If only The Princess Bride were Science Fiction. Anyone care to argue that? Anyone?
Daniel
I would have to go with either Forbidden Planet or Blade Runner, depending on how I’m feeling that day. 2001 loses out for me because of the last 30 minutes or so; it starts out as a decent SF movie but turns into some sort of light show.
It was Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Unless you mention a certain type of ray that was developed in a certain decade of the 20th century.
I’m going to have to propose a new entry:
The Day the Earth Stood Still
As science fiction, it was right up there with anything written at the time. It had suspense, a robot, and a message. Watching it always takes me back to my enjoyment at about 14 of my parents’ copies of old F&SF magazines, Sheckley stories, and other pulp science fiction efforts.
Star Wars was the best sci fi movie. 2001 is the best science fiction movie. Forbidden Planet is way up there, but it didn’t break new ground like the other two.
Nah. I think it is because he mixed up Asimov and Clarke. 
I hope it also inspires you to read Farewell to the Master which was even better than the movie.
I don’t knwo what the best Sci-Fi is necessrily, but I do now the the best sci-fi musical is Little Shop of Horrors.
It’s because you’re simply not as evolved as Cal. No, I’m serious: CalMeacham is a gigantic interstellar fetus.
Seriously, though, if LotR is science fiction, so is March of the Penguins. My vote goes to 2001 as well. I’ll throw Dark City in as an honorable mention.
Star Wars? New ground? WTF??? 
This is a major whoosh, right?
Blade Runner followed closely by 2001.
And regarding the LOTR debate, my vote goes for fantasy
Actually, the opposite would have to be true for this to be a supportive argument of LOTR as Sci-Fi.
Didn’t break new ground? It was
The First movie with faster-than-light travel and similar ultra-high-tech
The first movie where Earth People had non-cigar-shaped ships
The first movie to use sentient robots with Asimovian “Three Laws” protection built in
The first commercial movie with an electronic music score.
FP was completely unlike any previous science fiction film.
So I’m a Giant Space Fetus, huh? That must be the explanation for my odd appearance, like something out of an Aubrey Beardsley print.
Well, it was pretty revolutionary from a technical standpoint. They pioneered a lot of special effects techniques that are now industry standards.
Under the rather loose definitions of what passes for science fiction in this thread, I’m going to have to nominate Brazil. (Technically, there’s nothing in it that is really science fiction–it’s more of a satirical Orwelling dystopia–but technology and how it fails to live up to the promise of providing efficiency and utopia are central to the film.) This is just an utterly brilliant film that gets better every time I watch it, and despite the wacked-out gonzo-retro styling and spurious, almost stream-of-conciousness story it becomes more relevant and prescient with every passing day.
I’ll also have to make honorable mentions of The Day The Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Blade Runner, as well as Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Real Genius, Donnie Darko, and all but the last fifteen minutes of The Abyss. Some of these are flawed, but all leave a very memorably impression after viewing and are enduring favorites. The Man In The White Suit is a great and badly underrated Alec Guinness film that falls squarely in the genre of philosophical science fiction but is generally found over in the Classics section if not in the discount bin.
I’ve a really soft place in my heart for Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, but obviously that’s more for the kitsch value than as serious science fiction.
Stranger
You could say the same for King Kong, The Beast From 20,0000 Fathoms, and 2001.