# Entertainment Weekly's Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies/TV Shows of the Last 25 Years **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108 "2007-05-07T15:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/1 "2007-05-07T15:11:13Z")
The list is in this week’s print version, and also [right here](http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20036782_20037403_20037541,00.html). I’m surprised no one has started this thread already, because there’s much to debate. I haven’t finished reading it yet, and I haven’t seen several of the items on the list, but I have a few differences where I have. I think _Children of Men_ (#14), _Heroes_ (#18), and maybe _Lost_ (#11) don’t belong on the list, simply because they’re all too recent. We should get a little historical perspective before including anything in this list, I think. On the other hand, I think the inclusions of _Firefly/Serenity_ (#15) and _Battlestar Galactica_ (#2) are both spot-on, despite both properties’ newness. I’d have ranked _Blade Runner_ (#3) higher. _Starship Troopers_ (#19)? _Quantum Leap_ (#22)? Bzzzzt! Sorry. Thanks for playing. _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ clocks in at #8, and while I don’t quibble with that, look at this line from the justification: “…the writers and producers erected a sci-fi gold standard, tackling subjects as varied as homosexuality, euthanasia, and slavery…” Sorry, but homosexuality still remains the Undiscovered Country within the _Star Trek_ franchise, and it’s been so significantly absent over the last 41 years that to suggest otherwise for **any** Trek series is nothing short of laughable. What do the rest of you think of the list? ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/2 "2007-05-07T15:12:33Z")
this was a Sci-Fi list, right? - A mod should change the title of the thread ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/3 "2007-05-07T15:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash] this was a Sci-Fi list, right? - A mod should change the title of the thread [/QUOTE] Ooh, right. I’m sorry. Mods, please? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/4 "2007-05-07T15:29:27Z")
Done. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/5 "2007-05-07T15:35:34Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] I think _Children of Men_ (#14), _Heroes_ (#18), and maybe _Lost_ (#11) don’t belong on the list, simply because they’re all too recent. We should get a little historical perspective before including anything in this list, I think. On the other hand, I think the inclusions of _Firefly/Serenity_ (#15) and _Battlestar Galactica_ (#2) are both spot-on, despite both properties’ newness. [/QUOTE] So, what don’t you like about _Children of Men_, _Heroes_, and _Lost_? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/6 "2007-05-07T15:36:33Z")
Including Starship Troopers was a huge travesty. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/7 "2007-05-07T15:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] So, what don’t you like about _Children of Men_, _Heroes_, and _Lost_? 😃 [/QUOTE] What sort of a joke is this? Maybe I’m being whooshed, but as I indicated, I think they’re all too _recent_ for inclusion. In the fullness of time maybe they’ll belong there. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/8 "2007-05-07T15:51:17Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Including Starship Troopers was a huge travesty. [/QUOTE] Agreed. As was putting _The Matrix_ in the number one slot. Out of the films they listed, I’d say _Blade Runner_ would be a better choice for the top slot. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/9 "2007-05-07T15:55:35Z")
I haven’t seen everything on this list, so I can’t comment on everything. It seems like a decent enough collection. I’m very happy that **Galaxy Quest** made it on the list. (#24). A parody that pretty much embodied what most Trekkers loved about Star Trek. Heroes (#18)? This show has been on for, what, four months? Does it really deserve this spot yet? Oops, almost forgot, that while I admit I enjoyed **The Matrix** , calling it the #1 sci-fi film of the last 25 years is kind of a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/10 "2007-05-07T16:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] What sort of a joke is this? [/QUOTE] Not a very good one, I guess. Forget it. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/11 "2007-05-07T16:29:32Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Agreed. As was putting _The Matrix_ in the number one slot. Out of the films they listed, I’d say _Blade Runner_ would be a better choice for the top slot. [/QUOTE] I was flipping through the list in the print magazine, not really paying attention to the write-ups, and I remember getting halfway through wondering what the #1 listing was going to be, and then suddenly realizing the numbers were going higher, not lower. I got a little confused because The Matrix was the first entry. “No way,” I thought. Way. Aaaaand the list pretty much died for me. Although I did like seeing Doctor Who in there, it was pretty obvious the person who did the write up had never seen any episode from before 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/12 "2007-05-07T16:57:35Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] I’m very happy that **Galaxy Quest** made it on the list. (#24). A parody that pretty much embodied what most Trekkers loved about Star Trek. [/quote] Yes, it’s as appropriate to put _Galaxy Quest_ on this list as it would be to put _Blazing Saddles_ on a list of significant Westerns. It embodies the archetypes even as it lampoons them. > [@](#): > > Oops, almost forgot, that while I admit I enjoyed **The Matrix** , calling it the #1 sci-fi film of the last 25 years is kind of a joke. I wouldn’t have put it at #1 either, but I don’t think anyone would deny how important its influence has been over the last eight years. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/13 "2007-05-07T17:12:48Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] So, what don’t you like about _Children of Men_, _Heroes_, and _Lost_? 😃 [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen _Heroes_, but does it fit in the superhero subgenre? And if we’re including superhero movies/TV shows among the sci-fi, aren’t there several of these that belong on the list? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/14 "2007-05-07T17:12:54Z")
_12 Monkeys_, one of the greatest SF movies of all time, didn’t make the list of the 25 best of the last 25 years? ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/15 "2007-05-07T17:21:13Z")
My problems with the list, and I’m sure many will disagree: The Matrix as #1- I fucking hate this movie E.T. as #7 - I fucking hate this movie Yeah, we can go on, Starship Troopers, Back to the Future, hate them too. Maybe I’m biased because I don’t really like Sci-Fi. But there are a few I do like: Alien(s) - Good use of sci fi and horror. Can watch them over and over. Brazil- Not so much sci fi to me as a satire/cautionary tale. Yeah, I may be nuts. Quantum Leap- Well, who couldn’t love that show? I miss it. The Thing (1982)- Scared the piss out of me as a young adult. And I was home alone the weekend I saw it at the theater. Some I haven’t seen, such as Bladerunner and Children of Men, but mostly you can glean what I like in sci-fi, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/16 "2007-05-07T17:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] Sorry, but homosexuality still remains the Undiscovered Country within the _Star Trek_ franchise, and it’s been so significantly absent over the last 41 years that to suggest otherwise for **any** Trek series is nothing short of laughable. [/QUOTE] Except that for a long time it was also one of the very few places (especially in SF) you ever saw plotlines, few and far between as they were, that even acknowledged the existence of queerness anywhere in the universe. Even leaving aside the contrived token NextGen eps aimed at human sexuality, DS9 was practically draped in a rainbow flag – there was even two wimmins kissin’, and one was a major character (with a lot of interesting gender/body stuff in her storyline, for that matter), not to mention the blatantly lesbian antics of the Intendant. One of the reasons we want the gay character Roddenberry promised is that it makes so much sense for the franchise, not because the very idea of LGBT-friendly Trek is laughable. It’s actually laughable almost everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/17 "2007-05-07T19:18:31Z")
Nice to see _V_ listed. I still have my Alien Visitor action figure, which looks like a Ken doll but has an Extend-O tongue and peel-away face. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/18 "2007-05-07T20:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=Ensign Edison] DS9 was practically draped in a rainbow flag – there was even two wimmins kissin’, and one was a major character (with a lot of interesting gender/body stuff in her storyline, for that matter), not to mention the blatantly lesbian antics of the Intendant. [/QUOTE] The blatantly lesbian antics of the Intendant were schoolboy pandering, and don’t further your claim that _Trek_ has seriously looked at homosexuality within its universe. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/19 "2007-05-07T20:02:57Z")
_12 Monkeys Dark City A.I._ These should be on the list instead of _Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, and Heroes_ ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108/20 "2007-05-07T20:03:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] _12 Monkeys Dark City A.I._ These should be on the list instead of _Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, and Heroes_ [/QUOTE] _American Idol_ isn’t science fiction. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainment-weeklys-top-25-sci-fi-movies-tv-shows-of-the-last-25-years/403108.md?page=2)