# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/81 "2008-02-17T06:42:15Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] I’ll irritate everyone and say Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, even though it did make the enormous mistake of not showing Kate Winslet naked. [/QUOTE] I don’t know why this would irritate anyone; it’s a fantastic movie. It’s certainly among the best that can be classified as science fiction. My favorites: \*\* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind\*\* **Gattaca** - I know some aspects are weird (e.g. business suits in space), but I really like the depiction of society, and it was well-shot and well-scripted. **2001** - It’s poetry. **The Empire Strikes Back** - Best among the space opera movies, and hugely entertaining. **Terminator II** - Best among the sci-fi action movies, and among the best action movies ever. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/82 "2008-02-19T12:31:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I teach high school, and I’m tired of kids acting like anything before 1990 didn’t happen, but I hadn’t seen much in the genre from that time, and the chinzy spaceship and horrible spaceman suit just spoiled the whole thing for me. I’m willing to admit it probably has a deep point, if you all say so, but the B-movie production just strangled it for me. > > I can’t call them anything but B-movie production values. I know that there probably weren’t any better FX at the time, but whereas I thought Rebel Without A Cause was a marvelous piece of film and commentary when I saw it in 1986, The Day the Earth Stood Still has production that makes it almost ripe for Mike and the bots. There is clearly a deep divide here that cannot be bridged. You use these words, but they don’t seem to correlate with my vision of reality. “chintzy spaceship”? I thjought it unusually elegant. The spacesuit probably could’ve been better (I’ve seen the original. I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in that suit. Or, rather, I probably would. You wouldn’t want to be in it if you had a hull breach). And I still can’t fathom what you mean by “B-Movie Production Values”, something you say twice in that paragraph. Watch a real B-movie some time, or, better yet, some of those 1930s serials that Joel and the 'bots _did_ riff on. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/83 "2008-02-19T14:03:23Z")
No mention of _Starman_ or \* Logans Run\* Not surprised really. For my money Close Encounters has it ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/84 "2008-02-19T14:03:22Z")
No mention of _Starman_ or \* Logans Run\* Not surprised really. For my money Close Encounters has it ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/85 "2008-02-19T14:03:07Z")
No mention of _Starman_ or \* Logans Run\* Not surprised really. For my money Close Encounters has it ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/86 "2008-02-19T14:03:24Z")
No mention of _Starman_ or \* Logans Run\* Not surprised really. For my money Close Encounters has it ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/87 "2008-02-19T14:11:28Z")
Erm, I really didn’t mean to post that 4 times ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/88 "2008-02-19T14:40:17Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] No mention of _Starman_ or \* Logans Run\* [/QUOTE] For “Logan’s Run” see posts 76 to 78. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/89 "2008-02-19T14:45:44Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] “chintzy spaceship”? I thjought it unusually elegant [/QUOTE] The SFX in that movie was minimalist and as you said, elegant. Most of the movie relied on Michael Rennie’s own mannerisms, which seemed slightly in-human. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/90 "2008-02-19T16:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] For “Logan’s Run” see posts 76 to 78. [/QUOTE] :smack: :smack: Just a minute: Plan 9 from outer space. Truly a classic ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/91 "2008-02-19T17:24:10Z")
I have a soft spot for Outland, even though I usually can’t stand Sean Connery. The Day the Earth Stood Still always gets confused in my mind with Born Yesterday, probably because they use the same locations. The scene with Judy Holliday playing gin rummy with Klaatu would have been a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/92 "2008-02-20T02:56:36Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] And I still can’t fathom what you mean by “B-Movie Production Values”, something you say twice in that paragraph. Watch a real B-movie some time, or, better yet, some of those 1930s serials that Joel and the 'bots _did_ riff on. [/QUOTE] This obviously is a tempest in a teapot, and you needent care about my opinion, but I just found the trailer on YouTube, and I just don’t know what else to say. The fabric space suit? The robot that’s just some dude in a rubber suit staggering around? The wooden acting? The alien with perfect American English (yes, I realize this applies to Star Trek too)? If I didn’t know better, I honestly would think it was a parody of hokey 50s movies. It’s almost as if the Onion were making movie trailers. But I do remember it trying to be more than just some alien shlock, which is better than just not trying at all. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/93 "2008-02-20T12:48:42Z")
Talk about damning with faint praise. As I say, there’sd obviously a vast cultural gulf here. But my main objection wasn’t to your not liking the film --that’s subjective, and "De Gustibus… " and all. It was to your characterization of it as “cheap and chintzy”, which is demonstrably untrue. It was, believe it or not, a first class effort for the times. Even not “for the times”. But it doesn’t meet your standards for professionalism or believability, which is a different matter. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/94 "2008-02-20T18:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] When that came on tv years ago, I had never heard of it, and I thought it was a completely laughable cliche of a 50s low budget drive in shlock. I’m not sure I can get past the horrible production values still. Is it really that deep? [/QUOTE] This kind of remark drives me insane. This movie is from 1951; it predates all the others mentioned here with the exception of Metropolis. Stuff you call cliche was invented in this movie. It is ridiculous to demean a movie that had its ideas stolen and rehashed a hundred times after. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/95 "2008-02-20T18:24:20Z")
And as for 2010; I would have enjoyed it had they not added that Soviet-USA tension nonsense. That and the “use these new worlds in peace” theme was heavy handed and not part of the novel, which ruined it for me (and I regret to say people sitting near me in the theatre as I kept muttering “this wasn’t in the book” over and over.) Though Soviet USA relations were poor at the time this mvie was made, I felt it had no business being inserted into what should have been a nice escapism movie. Also, the casting of Roy Scheider (RIP) didn’t feel right. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/96 "2008-02-20T19:57:14Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] I’ll irritate everyone and say Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, even though it did make the enormous mistake of not showing Kate Winslet naked. [/QUOTE] Seconded, best Sci-Fi movie in the past decade. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/97 "2008-02-20T23:59:57Z")
When Worlds Collide The Thing (original) ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/98 "2008-02-21T03:23:49Z")
Another vote for **12 Monkeys** here. I’m a big Terry Gilliam fan, and the documentary included on the dvd is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/99 "2008-02-21T09:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **[It Came from Outer Space](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/outerspace.htm)**. Nice little alien invasion film, with an ending that blasts apart the cliches of what 50s SF films were supposed to be about. Ray Bradbury helped with the script, too. Try to watch it in the original 3D. [/QUOTE] Could you spoil this one in a spoiler box? I doubt I’ll ever get around to seeing this movie, but I’m curious as to what the ending is. I’m surprised there’s a warm reception for 12 Monkies. I liked it and seem to recall it as a consistent, logical time travel movie and how often do you see those? But I always got the impression that it was unliked. The Day The Earth Stood Still has a great unintentionally funny scene. I can’t remember the specifics, but a doctor was talking to a soldier about how the alien was in such great shape. He says something like “he might live several hundred years… their medical knowledge is just so much more advanced than ours.” - the great part? While making this little speech the doctor is taking a cigarette out of his holder and offering one to the soldier. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415/100 "2008-02-21T10:34:15Z")
In _It Came from Outer Space_, The aliens are not invading. They are just trying to repair their ship and go home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-ever-made/437415.md?page=6)