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[unpopularblargh]

I just finished watching Predestination (loved it btw) which lead me to reviews of the film on Rotten Tomatoes which lead me to the Rolling Stone's review which lead me the side bar link to this list. The list was made just before the release of Godzilla in 2014 so it doesn't include a few major films like Interstellar or

Spoiler

F4ntastic Four and Jupiter Ascending

. I think it's an interesting list with some odd and interesting choices especially considering I like all movies listed. Anyways I thought it would make for a fruitful discussion on GAF.

READ THIS BEFORE POSTING!!!

The list was made just before the release of Godzilla in 2014 so it doesn't include a few major films like Interstellar or

Spoiler

F4ntastic Four and Jupiter Ascending

.

Link to full article here.

20. Sunshine (2007)

Danny Boyle's sci-fi opus is a throwback to the genre's cerebral era, when interstellar journeys doubled as metaphysical head trips (see Solaris, 2001, etc.).

19. Donnie Darko (2001)

...its skewed look at suburban America and scarred psyches do make it an intriguing and eerily prescient work, one that had the misfortune of coming out right after 9/11 yet somehow anticipated the PTSD mindset of that moment's aftermath.

18. Monsters (2010)

The idea of offering only glimpses of the creatures and focusing more on the aftermath may have been the result of budgetary concerns, but necessity is certainly the mother of invention here; it's a clever way of making a familiar sci-fi scenario seem fresh again.

17. Reign Of Fire (2002)

If this movie was made today, with exactly the same leading men and exactly the same premise, it would be a summer-season tent-pole. It might not be better though.

16. Attack The Block (2011)

The fact that it flips the script and makes the so-called underclass the heroes was reason enough to embrace this scrappy take on Eighties blockbusters, but it also brings its action and alien-scares A-game as well.

15. Cloverfield (2008)

...its cast perfectly captures the terror of New Yorkers seeing landmarks — the Time Warner Center and the archways in Central Park collapsing, the Statue of Liberty being beheaded — a few years after 9/11. Most chilling is the film's final line, heard in a pre-destruction flashback: "I had a good day."

14. Primer (2004)

From its tech-heavy dialogue to the loop-the-loop storyline (so complex it requires a chart to comprehend), Primer is the rare film that makes no attempt to pander to its audience. Sure, it's confusing, but that's partially the point.

13. Minority Report (2002)

The more times you watch this story of a future cop dedicated to stopping murders before they've occurred, the more you marvel at how it seems to anticipate the NSA/drone-strike zeitgeist of the here and now.

12. Moon (2009)

Duncan Jones' debut feature keeps you wondering whether its hero —played by an on-point Sam Rockwell — is losing a battle with what appears to be his "double" or if he, is, in fact, losing his mind.

11. The World's End (2013)

A genius riff on growing up, growing apart and Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type sci-fi/horror movies, writer-director Edgar Wright's juggles a host of genre elements with an impressive agility...

10. The Host (2006)

It's equal parts politically sharp, brutally hilarious, incredibly suspenseful — and totally icky.

9. Her (2013)

Spike Jonze's post-postmodern love story reeks of all the hallmarks of every other sappy love story – infatuation, inadequacy, infidelity – and that's what makes it so engaging.

8. Looper (2012)

Johnson's Möbius Strip of a movie is endlessly fascinating — it doesn't simply reward repeat viewings so much as demand them — and proof that it's still possible to do intelligent science fiction within the sausage skin of a star vehicle.

7. Serenity (2005)

...here's a good old-fashioned romp brimming with spaceship chase scenes, laser gunfights and not one but several Han Solo-type ruffians.

6. District 9 (2009)

As a genre-based action movie, however, the movie works its gritty, you-are-there feel to great effect, especially once Sharlto Copley's bureaucratic lackey starts to experience a few, shall we say, physical changes of his own.

5. Gravity (2013)

...the movie's real star is its villain: the absolute, all-encompassing nothingness of space. Thanks to dizzying CGI and Bullock's 90-minute panic attack, Gravity is horror as much as sci-fi...

4. Wall-E (2008)

...the real world of Wall-E is 20th century American film. Our bumbling hero putters around a scorched Earth silently but expressively as Charlie Chaplin's little tramp; his attempts to romance an iPod-like female counterpart resembles a romance like a robot version of Woody Allen's Alvy Singer; vistas recall Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and the cynical political humor recalls his Dr. Strangelove.

3. Under The Skin (2013)

Lots of movies have tried to channel that old Seventies sci-fi feeling, but Glazer's visually sumptuous, genuinely unnerving movie is one of the few that feels as if it actually came from that fertile era of space oddities.

2. Inception (2010)

Nolan's script is a multi-layered latticework of timelines and realities, dead-ends and false ledges, one that ultimately provides few answers, but asks plenty of questions.

1. Children Of Men (2006)

Emotionally resonant, daringly prophetic and disturbingly plausible, Children of Men is modern sci-fi storytelling at its apex.

 

[Perfect Blue]

They got #1 right.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

The list maker clearly didn't read Kip Thorne's book about the science behind Interstellar.

 

[Currygan]

I was gonna vomit some bile, but COM at 1 is one hella deterrent

 

[jtb]

Sunshine or Her would be my top pick.

 

[unpopularblargh]

The list maker clearly didn't read Kip Thorne's book about the science behind Interstellar.

Did you read the OP before posting?

 

[dork]

Redo the list and put interstellar as the first 5

And I loved children of men

Edit. I said redo the list before someone says I didn't read

 

[MC Safety]

Wasn't Reign of Fire a big, stinky turdbucket?

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/reign-of-fire

 

[PhoncipleBone]

No Fury Road? BAH! And yes, I count that as science fiction.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Did you read the OP before posting?

Read the list and assumed it was an article from this year.

 

[UraMallas]

They got #1 right.

Was gonna say this. First movie that came to my mind when reading the title.

 

[Aselith]

The World's End? Rolly pls

 

[xxracerxx]

No Ex Machina?

edit: Well fuck, this article is from May, 2014.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

there's been some good ones since that list's creation. Edge of Tomorrow, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Ex Machina...some liked Snowpiercer.

IDK how they got around including Her but not Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, that's just as sci-fi and its a great film.

ThePlaylist did a more recent list. CoM was #1 there, too.

 

[Aselith]

No Ex Machina?

The list was made before Ex Machina came out.

 

[UraMallas]

I have never seen Sunshine and have always wanted to. Is it on Netflit or Amazon?

 

[Dice//]

A list i barely questioned. Not bad at all I think.

Well, except "World's End". For how much I loved Shawn and Hot Fuzz, this one did nothing for me. #1 was a great pick, and a bold choice amongst the other contenders --- but worthy.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I was gonna vomit some bile, but COM at 1 is one hella deterrent

Pretty much my reaction

 

[robotrock]

They got #1 right.

They did!

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Inception, Serenity, and Looper being ranked higher than Her is hilarious.

 

[computers putin']

Just came in to make sure Children of Men was number 1, I'm satisfied now.

 

[Hunkasaurus Rex]

Hmm, no love for Interstellar. By no means was it a groundbreaking film but I loved Star Trek Into Darkness. There's a couple big ones on there I haven't seen like Under the Skin, Reign of Fire, The Host, Sunshine, or Her.

 

[robotrock]

Actually that top 3 is 100% cool with me

 

[Fancy Clown]

Redo the list and put interstellar as the first 5

And I loved children of men

Edit. I said redo the list before someone says I didn't read

Even tho Interstellar is not better than a single one of the top 5 in this list?

 

[lawnchair]

No Fury Road? BAH! And yes, I count that as science fiction.

this list is over a year old. interstellar wasnt out yet, either.

 

[Zophar]

No Avatar is pretty ridiculous.

Edit: No Prometheus is a crock too.

 

[Affeinvasion]

What about Donnie Darko makes it sci fi?

 

[TheKaeptain]

ThePlaylist did a more recent list. CoM was #1 there, too.

that's a great top 5.

 

[User 479360]

That's a pretty solid list. I haven't seen them all, though, as I still need to see Primer, Reign of Fire, Attack the Block, Under The Skin and Monsters, but I enjoyed the ones I did see.

Donnie Darko has always been a personal favourite, too, so I'm glad it's on the list.

I remember my friend and I first heard about it while reading Rue Morgue (or something like it). Someone had listed it in a feature about movies your parents would question your sanity over.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Avatar is trash, good to see it not on the list.

 

[marrec]

Inception, Serenity, and Looper being ranked higher than Her is hilarious.

I love Serenity and I completely agree. Inception doesn't even earn a spot on my top 20 list... seeing it at #2 is confusing.

Otherwise, it's a decent list.

Avatar is trash, good to see it not on the list.

100% this.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

IDK how they got around including Her but not Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, that's just as sci-fi and its a great film.

ThePlaylist did a more recent list. CoM was #1 there, too.

I like the Indiewire list way more.

And yeah, Eternal Sunshine is absolutely a sci-fi film, and should have been on the Rolling Stone list.

 

[Zukuu]

Children of Men is so overrated. Mediocre film at best. Almost on the same level as Bablyon A.D... only less bad.

District 9 is the best by a landslide. I don't think I would call Wall-E, Her etc Sc-Fi in a more common sense.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

this list is over a year old. interstellar wasnt out yet, either.

Oh, um. Jokes on me for not reading closely enough in the OP to see that. I am an idiot. Thank you for pointing it out.

I really should have read the paragraph in the opening before jumping to the list.

 

[marrec]

ThePlaylist did a more recent list. CoM was #1 there, too.

Woah holy fuck they put Upstream Color at #2 that's a great choice, but I thought everyone else but me hated that movie.

 

[Bubba_Sparks]

Is Reign of Fire the movie where dragons somehow managed to defeat modern civilization in war?

 

[braves01]

A.I. came out in the 21st century right? And where the hell is Dredd or Vanilla Sky?

 

[lawnchair]

I don't think I would call Wall-E, Her etc Sc-Fi in a more common sense.

they are absolutely science fiction.

 

[soundscream]

Sunshine should be higher and Reign of Fire shouldn't be top 20.

 

[unpopularblargh]

I like the Indiewire list way more.

And yeah, Eternal Sunshine is absolutely a sci-fi film, and should have been on the Rolling Stone list.

Reading the IW list now. I wish I had seen that sooner. It's like buying something and finding it cheaper and better quality a few minutes later at another store.

 

[Stumpokapow]

how on earth does this list not include rogue one or star wars episode 8 or guardians of the galaxy 2?? emabrassing to see the biast against disney

 

[Puck Beaverton]

Woah holy fuck they put Upstream Color at #2 that's a great choice, but I thought everyone else but me hated that movie.

You shouldn't trust those people who don't like Upstream Color.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

What about Donnie Darko makes it sci fi?

I'll agree with this. It's mostly about mental illness.

Great to see a shoutout to Reign of Fire!

 

[robotrock]

they are absolutely science fiction.

Yeah. I don't know how that's even a question

I'll agree with this. It's mostly about mental illness.

Plays with the idea of time travel right?

 

[Savitar]

Reign of Fire is totally sci fi......it had Star Wars in it.

 

[Premium Quality]

Decent list. Although I'd rank Moon and District 9 much higher on the list and drop Inception down.

 

[Volimar]

Is it weird that I thought DD and COM were both older films?

 

[marrec]

You shouldn't trust those people who don't like Upstream Color.

I'm also going to not trust people who don't put Cloud Atlas in their list.

*narrows eyes*

 

[User 479360]

Avatar is trash, good to see it not on the list.

Yeah, Avatar was only noteworthy because of its 3D. The movie itself was decent at best, and wasn't original.

I saw it once in theatres, and have had zero interest in watching it again, nor do I really care about sequels. I enjoyed it for what it was, but meh.

 

[HariKari]

Shallow list if Reign Of Fire is on there. Liked it, but not worthy.