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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday November 06 2016, @01:37PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-forgot-Waterworld dept.

The weekend is upon us and if you are looking for something to help pass the time, look no further! The Ars Technica science fiction bucket list—42 movies every geek must see ...and nine bonus stinkers from which you should run away screaming.

[...] Lists of science fiction movies are a common item for discussion on the Ars staff Slack channel—particularly short lists of the best science fiction movies ever made. But "best" is an impossible word to quantify in any broadly applicable way—one person's "best ever" might be another person's worst, especially in a genre of movies as rich and varied as science fiction.

["Science fiction" is a meta term that refers to a huge host of sub-genres, from "hard" science fiction to skiffy to all points between. For this list, we've chosen to constrain eligibility requirements to movies that deal speculatively with science and/or the future. This lets us include classics like Frankenstein (which is properly sci-fi) while excluding films that skew heavily toward fantasy. Then again, we've got Star Wars in the list and that's not a future movie, so author's discretion trumps all, I suppose!]

While the Ars staff has some bitter disagreements on which movies are better than others, it's undeniable that some science fiction movies are mandatory viewing for the modern geek. To that end, rather than try to pull together another tired "top ten sci-fi movies" listicle, we've instead polled the Ars staff to try to come up with a definitive "science fiction bucket list"—that is, a list of sci-fi movies that you should absolutely see at least once before you die. They aren't necessarily the "best" movies by any specific set of criteria, but every film on this list is outstanding in some particular way. Some were groundbreaking in their stories or subject matter, some were controversial, and some contained a character or plot twist that went on to become an archetype, referenced in and reused by countless other films. Some films on the list, like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, are pure cinematic poetry; others, like Pacific Rim, are pure popcorn fun. And, as a bonus, we even included a bonus list of a few absolutely terrible stinkers at the very bottom.

[Continues...]

Here is Ars Technica's list of forty-two must-see movies. See the linked Ars Technica story for writeups on each film or follow the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) link provided here.

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (IMDb)
  2. 28 Days Later... (2003) (IMDb)
  3. Alien (1979) (IMDb)
  4. Blade Runner (1982) (IMDb)
  5. Brazil (1985) (IMDb)
  6. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) (IMDb)
  7. Children of Men (2006) (IMDb)
  8. A Clockwork Orange (1972) (IMDb)
  9. Computer Chess (2013) (IMDb)
  10. C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004) (IMDb)
  11. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) (IMDb)
  12. District 9 (2009) (IMDb)
  13. Dune (1984) (IMDb)
  14. Enemy Mine (1985) (IMDb)
  15. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (IMDb)
  16. Forbidden Planet (1956) (IMDb)
  17. Frankenstein (1931) (IMDb)
  18. Galaxy Quest (1999) (IMDb)
  19. Ghost in the Shell (1995) (IMDb)
  20. Ghosts with Shit Jobs (2012) (IMDb)
  21. Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1954) (IMDb)
  22. Her (2013) (IMDb)
  23. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) (IMDb)
  24. The Matrix (1999) (IMDb)
  25. The Martian (2015) (IMDb)
  26. Metropolis (1927) (IMDb)
  27. Moon (2009) (IMDb)
  28. Pacific Rim (2013) (IMDb)
  29. Planet of the Apes (1968) (IMDb)
  30. Primer (2004) (IMDb)
  31. RoboCop (1987) (IMDb)
  32. Stalker (1979) (IMDb)
  33. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (IMDb)
  34. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) (IMDb)
  35. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (IMDb)
  36. They Live (1988) (IMDb)
  37. The Thing (1982) (IMDb)
  38. THX 1138 (1971) (IMDb)
  39. TRON (1982) (IMDb)
  40. Videodrome (1983) (IMDb)
  41. WALL*E (2008) (IMDb)
  42. WarGames (1983) (IMDb)

And it may be best to avoid these:

  1. Bad Taste (1987) (IMDb)
  2. Barbarella (1968) (IMDb)
  3. Battlefield Earth (2000) (IMDb)
  4. Brain Damage (1988) (IMDb)
  5. Re-Animator (1985) (IMDb)
  6. Robot Jox (1990) (IMDb)
  7. Solarbabies (1986) (IMDb)
  8. Star Trek Nemesis (2002) (IMDb)
  9. Zardoz (1974) (IMDb)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday November 06 2016, @01:51PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday November 06 2016, @01:51PM (#423093) Homepage

    You forgot Gayniggers from Outer Space. [wikipedia.org]

    Also, Star Wars should be closer to the top, like in the single digits. I'd also like to add a couple, they're not really hard Sci-Fi but more Dystopic future stuff -- The Running Man and Demolition Man, [wp.com] the latter of which has heavy libertarian messages throughout.

    Also a shoutout to The Day The Earth Stood Still, never saw the movie but was the first Sci-Fi book I read as a kid.

    Finally, a mildly amusing story about another Sci-Fi movie, Species [wikipedia.org] . My aunt took my sister and I to see it when we were kids, and I wondered why she was taking us to such an adult-themed movie. Well, a couple years later I found out she was a lesbo, and when she took us to the movie it allowed her the opportunity to perv on Natasha Henstridge.

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  • (Score: 2) by quintessence on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:13PM

    by quintessence (6227) on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:13PM (#423102)

    But overall, not a bad list. For the few I haven't seen, I have reasonable expectation that the films will at least be interesting and not pandering to certain demographic bases or trends like most lists seem to do.

    I've seen maybe 3/4 of the films and can say at least all of those were good, with some that were great (personal preferences always jockeying top five from the top 20, but seemingly no film that shouldn't be there).

    I'd also add Akira if just for the bewildered sense of awe I had after watching, not really understanding all of the story, but wanting desperately to figure it out.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:16PM (#423105)

    Also, Star Wars should be closer to the top, like in the single digits.

    Given they're in alphabetical order, that says more about your literacy skills than the quality of that movie.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:59PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @02:59PM (#423120)

      YHBT

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:57PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:57PM (#423160) Journal
      I just noticed. Still two sequels in place of the better original movies. What gives?
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @11:28PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @11:28PM (#423841)

        Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is, to a great extent, the original movie. It's been renamed. Other changes were made when it was re-released; it's not a sequel though.

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday November 08 2016, @05:14PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 08 2016, @05:14PM (#424142) Journal
          I was referring to 28 Days Later and Terminator 2. There might be other sequels on the list too.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Nuke on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:37PM

    by Nuke (3162) on Sunday November 06 2016, @04:37PM (#423152)

    As one of the best or one of the worst ?

    And for the worst, the film that that title spoofs :-

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 07 2016, @10:48AM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday November 07 2016, @10:48AM (#423441) Journal

    Ethanol, I challenge you to go a day posting without using "nigger" or "jew" or even referring to those two subjects. You're like a piano with only two notes.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.