# The greatest sci-fi movie ever made? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415 "2008-02-13T05:52:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/1 "2008-02-13T05:52:12Z")
i sit here for the umpteenth time watching one of my all-time favorites: The Day the Earth Stood Still. i have it on dvd. i’ve seen it more times than i can count. i watch it often. is there a more perfect sci fi film? name your poison! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/2 "2008-02-13T05:54:46Z")
I liked Blade Runner. But The Day the Earth Stood Still is wonderful, too. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/3 "2008-02-13T06:21:08Z")
Prince of Space Game over 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/4 "2008-02-13T06:21:33Z")
good choice. you’ve seen the director’s cut of course? ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/5 "2008-02-13T06:31:51Z")
To me, what makes a sci-fi film great is how believable the “fi” part is. I think “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is a great movie, but adheres to too many cliche’s (flying saucer, invincible robot, etc.). I nominate: “Contact” - for depicting not only a realistic first contact, but also the reaction of the world to such an event. “Andromeda Strain” - a menacing alien doesn’t have to have a long, silvery head. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/6 "2008-02-13T06:32:23Z")
To be honest, it’s hard to beat **Star Wars** (1977) for this one. I’m not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, but it really was one of those films whose release created a dividing line between “before” and “after.” It truly changed how audiences and the industry approached the movies, for good and ill. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/7 "2008-02-13T07:11:50Z")
Any love for _12 Monkeys_? Just about every time travel trope was worked into that one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/8 "2008-02-13T07:42:26Z")
I’m one of the few (the proud few) who really likes **Gattaca**. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/9 "2008-02-13T07:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] To be honest, it’s hard to beat **Star Wars** (1977) for this one. I’m not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, but it really was one of those films whose release created a dividing line between “before” and “after.” It truly changed how audiences and the industry approached the movies, for good and ill. [/QUOTE] _Star Wars_ is space opera, not science fiction in the strictest sense of the term. It’s a very watchable movie (and yes, it, along with _Jaws_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ did influence the movie industry toward producing summer blockbuster films and broad-scale marketing), but great science fiction it is not. Indeed, it is a pastiche of war movies, Westerns, epic fantasy, and samurai films and stories. _The Empire Strikes Back_ is by all objective measures a much better and nuanced film, though still more in the realm of space opera rather than science fiction. For real science fiction, I’m going to have to go with _Blade Runner_ (despite some problems with the actual characterization) as being thematically deeper, essentially a cyberpunk-esque adaptation of _Paradise Lost_. _2001: A Space Odyssey_ is a close second (although I recognize that the sparse plot is off-putting for many). Gilliam’s _12 Monkeys_ is a consistant and intelligent approach to time travel stories, something I could imagine coming from the pen of Frederick Pohl (_Brazil_, strictly speaking, isn’t science fiction, lacking as it does any significiant technological elements), and _Aliens_ is a good straightforward action/sci-fi movie with humanistic elements, as is _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_. (Cameron’s _The Abyss_ is up there as well, as long as you turn it off before the aliens rescue Ed Harris.) As far as classical science fiction, Fritz Lang’s _Metropolis_ and Weine’s _The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari_ stand out, as does _Forbidden Planet_ and the Don Siegel directed _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. As much as I wanted to like _Minority Report_, _AI: Artificial Intelligence_, _Contact_, et cetera, the logical and structural problems bothered me too much to rate them highly. _They Live_ and _The Thing_, both John Carpenter B-movies, had more to recommend them in concept, and _City of Lost Children_ and _Delicatessen_ are at least visually stunning sci-fi-esque fairy tails that are inimitable. In general, feature cinema doesn’t do to well with science fiction; most “real” sci-fi tends to be either to cereberal or too philosophical for film. The original “The Twilight Zone” has more and better science fiction stories than can be found in most film, primarily because the brevity of the episodes (and no doubt low cost of filming) is better suited to conceptual science fiction as opposed to action-oriented space opera. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/10 "2008-02-13T09:15:54Z")
\*\*2001: A Space Odyssey \*\* without question, although that’s really more science-fact than science-fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/11 "2008-02-13T09:40:47Z")
I’d say _dune_ was my favourite sci-fi movie, if maybe not the best. It’s very flawed in basic cinema terms but it excels in other ways. It does an exceptional job at evoking a true otherworldly atmosphere, real sci-fi rather than a cops and robbers film transplanted into outer space as is often the case. There is some mystery to the film, it doesn’t spell everything out in capital letters to the audience. It’s a great example of world-building in the cinema, something very difficult to do. Many films that stray from the company line are ‘interesting’, but _dune_ is more than that. It has to be counted as a major Sci-Fi film on originality alone. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/12 "2008-02-13T10:05:44Z")
[QUOTE=wevets] Any love for _12 Monkeys_? Just about every time travel trope was worked into that one. [/QUOTE] I somehow managed to buy the film three times, so I must like it :smack: I liked Gattacca, it felt more plausible somehow, perhaps a bit more of the science-fact noted above. Somehow I missed **Sage Rat’s** approval of it too until previewing my post. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/13 "2008-02-13T10:10:23Z")
\*2001: A Space Odyssey \* - a beautiful, timeless and strangely human film. I disagree that _Star Wars_ is the before and asfter line - 2001 is one of the defining moments of any perspective on film history. A masterwork and the greatest science and or fiction film ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/14 "2008-02-13T10:56:04Z")
This is a bit pointless since **Stranger** has posted and should probably have the last word 🙂_and_ has already mentioned most of my choices _Forbidden Planet/Aliens/Blade Runner_. How about _Dark Star_? For a touch of “realism”. I’d imagine real space adventure would be much more like this than _Star Wars_. For heaven’s sake no one mention _Starship Tr. . ._ Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/15 "2008-02-13T11:20:42Z")
I remember now what I forgot to post, Solaris, another film where the aliens aren’t big bug eyed monsters. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/16 "2008-02-13T11:21:34Z")
Lang’s _Metropolis_. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/17 "2008-02-13T12:20:12Z")
[Silent Running](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/) with Bruce Dern ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/18 "2008-02-13T12:51:13Z")
I think **2001: A Space Odyssey** inspired many later films. The ideas of the bone turning into a space station; playing chess against an intelligent computer; exercising right round the spaceship; taking a long time to arrive in space - these were all impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/19 "2008-02-13T12:54:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I’m one of the few (the proud few) who really likes **Gattaca**. [/QUOTE] I really like _Gattaca_, too. And that’s despite being aware of the absurdity of the premise _and_ strongly disagreeing with the moral of the story _and_ thinking that the hero’s action were extremely unethical. I’m used to having all those issues when reading SF, especially SF from before the '70s. But _Gattaca_ also excels in the same way that a lot of that older SF does. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/20 "2008-02-13T12:56:35Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] For heaven’s sake no one mention _Starship Tr. . ._ Oops. [/QUOTE] Not with a masterpiece such as _Battlefield Earth_ that clearly overwhelms it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415.md?page=2)