# Must See Sci-Fi Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2000, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403 "2000-12-06T23:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigFriendlyGiant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@BigFriendlyGiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigFriendlyGiant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/1 "2000-12-06T23:38:52Z")
Must See Sci-Fi Movies I’ve been wondering what movies are considered must sees as far as Sci-Fi either past or present. The ones I know are: War of the worlds Close Encounters of the Third Kind Contact ET 2001 A Space Odyssey I know there are more but I don’t know what they are. ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/2 "2000-12-07T01:57:40Z")
Blade Runner. Alien. The Incredible Shrinking Man. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Forbidden Planet. Metropolis. And, IMO, two smaller ones that should be, in recognition of their influence on later films: Dark Star. A Boy and His Dog. ---
**Author:** ![BigFriendlyGiant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@BigFriendlyGiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigFriendlyGiant)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/3 "2000-12-07T02:01:00Z")
I just remembered a Disney movie that most definitely should qualify but I’m not sure, Earth: Star Voyager, and I forgot to mention Dune. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/4 "2000-12-07T04:29:55Z")
Robocop The Terminator Terminator 2 The Quatermass Experiment (The Creepin Unknown) Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space) Quatermass and the Pit (Fve Million Years to Earth) Robinon Crusoe on Mars (Stupid Title, good flick) It! The Terror from Beyond Space (Alien was DEFINITELY ripped of from this. Good Jerome Bixb script, Paul Blaisdell alien) Aliens Journey to the Center of the Earth (It has its bad points, but overall a good flick) ---
**Author:** ![RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RocknRoll_Killing_Machine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/5 "2000-12-07T04:52:38Z")
Dark City an amazing movie that I’ve never heard about from anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/6 "2000-12-07T05:12:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BigFriendlyGiant \* > \*\*I just remembered a Disney movie that most definitely should qualify but I’m not sure, Earth: Star Voyager, and I forgot to mention Dune. \*\* Are you thinking of Tron? Not one of my favorites, but the first one that came to mind with Disney. A Southpark episode (Jewbilee) I believe parodied it. ---
**Author:** ![Emustrangler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Emustrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emustrangler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/7 "2000-12-07T05:22:49Z")
12 Monkeys is one of my personal faves Also a big Matrix fan, though it might be considered more of an action movie then Sci-Fi. ---
**Author:** ![Mofo\_Rising](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mofo\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mofo_Rising)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/8 "2000-12-07T05:36:57Z")
I second: 2001 Blade Runner 12 Monkeys Dark City Alien I would also add: The original Star Wars trilogy. (If you haven’t seen this, you have a gigantic hole in your movie watching education.) Akira Ghost in the Shell Pi (Very, very borderline sci-fi.) Aliens Repo Man (More of a personal favorite.) Brazil And many more I can’t think of. ---
**Author:** ![HalberMensch242](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HalberMensch242](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HalberMensch242)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/9 "2000-12-07T06:24:16Z")
I agree with most of the movies listed…and i’d like to add Solaris. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/10 "2000-12-07T13:34:50Z")
I can’t believe that nobody (including myself) has mentioned The Thing Both versions. The original is considered a classic, but the John Carpenter remake is much more faithful to the John Campbell story it’s based on. Creator 2010: The Year we Make Contact (which I’ll still defend) Star Trek II, III, and IV The Andromeda Strain (The only Crichton I’ve really liked – and directed by Rober Wise!) Things to Come (often boring and sometimes ridiculous, but a classic) ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/11 "2000-12-07T13:51:46Z")
_The Blood of Heroes_ AKA _Wrath of the Jugger_ Hard to find. Worth looking for. Austrailian Post-Apocolyptic sports movie. Better than it sounds. It has Joan Chen biting a guys ear off. Later on she sleeps with Rutger Hauer. It’s good, really. _The Road Warrior_ (The first and last Mad Max movies are fun, but the second one was proably the best) _Venus Wars,_ a fairly obscure 80’s era anime, (with all that implies) which sounds like it’s hentai, but isn’t. I really should pick up the DVD one of these days. _A Wind Named Amnisia_ was pretty good, dispite the terrible ending. I suppose I should mention _Wings of Honiamise_ as well. They’re not movies, but the _Armitage III_ OAV series, _Neon Genesis Evangilon,_ and _Key the Metal Idol_ all hand some interesting SF premises, though avoid the dub of the first unless you want to hear Elzebeth Berkley try to act. And _Bubble Gum Crisis_, of course. 🙂 _Votoms_ and _Gakarasi_ are supposed to be very good, but I haven’t seen them. Of stuff already mentioned, _Blade Runner,_ the first _Alien,_ the first _Terminator, GiTS, Akira, 2001, The Andromeda Strain._ I STILL haven’t seen _Gattica,_ though. Out of curiosity, how was _Dark Star_ influential? – “That being said, enjoy your crappy sci-fi movie.” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/12 "2000-12-07T13:56:31Z")
Ooooooh… All pretty darn good movies, so far. I’d like to submit 1971’s Silent Running with Bruce Dern. I did see Dark City when it came out a few years ago, and I’ll admit I didn’t quite know if I liked it or not. But after a little while, I realized it was a darn good film. Quirky, odd, but what a storyline! And what about Planet of the Apes (1968)? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/13 "2000-12-07T14:54:46Z")
Uru-Maru: One way Dark Star was influential was in showing a “lived in” spaceship. AFAIK it was the first movie to do this – before Star Wars or Solaris. Before Dark Star space ships were always pristine and clean. Another war it’s important is that it brought back the “Monster loose aboard the starship” for the first time since the 1956 flick “It! The Terror from Beyond Space”. The subplot with the “Beachball” (which waasn’t part of the original student film) has the same plot as Alien. By the way, one of the screenwriters for Alien was Dan O’Bannon, who is the guy chasing the Beachball in Dark Star. Coincidence? I seriously doubt it. “ET” as required viewing? Yechhhh! Much better than ET: Destination Moon When World Collide Deep Impact The War Game (Peter Watkins; film, not the Matthew Broderick film), Threads, The Day After, and a host of similar “When the Bomb Falls” films 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (THe Disney version) ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/14 "2000-12-07T15:51:55Z")
_This Island Earth_ (in _MST3K: The Movie_ of course) Also: _Terror from the Year 5000 The Phantom Planet Horror at Party Beach The Projected Man_ You can thank me later. ---
**Author:** ![WIGGUM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WIGGUM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WIGGUM)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/15 "2000-12-07T18:00:45Z")
How about _Enemy Mine_ with Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett Jr.? ---
**Author:** ![paintsvillecom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@paintsvillecom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paintsvillecom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/16 "2000-12-07T18:25:33Z")
What? No one is going to mention A Clockwork Orange? One recent but notable addition would have to be Titan A.E. I’ll also have to cast a vote for Logan’s Run, although I recognize that there is a certain amount of cheesiness in that movie. Disney movie? I think Tron should qualify, but maybe our friend is searching for The Black Hole. ---
**Author:** ![paintsvillecom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@paintsvillecom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paintsvillecom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/17 "2000-12-07T18:35:47Z")
Dang, thought of a couple more after hitting the submit button. Soylent Green (sp?) THX-1138 The Fifth Element And there is another movie which I have been trying to remember, but can’t think of. It’s truly a horrible, horrible movie, but it’s so bad that it should be on any must-see list just as a counterweight. It’s the one it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where a guy and girl and another fellow are on the run from LA to NY (or vice versa?) and have to travel underground. The most memorable part of the movie for me is where they encounter some weirdo underground and the weirdo has the most memorable line of the movie – “You see, I’m sick in the head. I eat leeches.” – or words to that effect. I’ve tried to find it listed in IMDb using the quote search, but none of the searches for “leech” or “leeches” turn it up. Can anyone else remember? ---
**Author:** ![penael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@penael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penael)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/18 "2000-12-07T18:37:38Z")
Brazil Time Bandits Basically anything Terry Gilliam! ---
**Author:** ![paintsvillecom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@paintsvillecom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paintsvillecom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/19 "2000-12-07T18:40:31Z")
Aaagh! Two more: Heavy Metal They Live (a superb satire) ---
**Author:** ![Torberg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ea924/32.png) [@Torberg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torberg)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403/20 "2000-12-07T19:19:32Z")
How can no one have yet mentioned “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension?” Tor [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-see-sci-fi-movies/44403.md?page=2)