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.
And it may be best to avoid these:
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @03:48PM
... The Fifth Element.
But to be honest there is a shitload of good stuff not on there... Starship Troopers (first one, not the rest), Ghostbusters (the old ones), Stargate, Pandorum, the Riddick movies... and the list goes on...
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday November 06 2016, @06:34PM
But to be honest there is a shitload of good stuff not on there... Starship Troopers (first one, not the rest), Ghostbusters (the old ones), Stargate, Pandorum, the Riddick movies... and the list goes on...
Starship Troopers was unadulterated pig shit, and Ghostbusters wasn't Sci-Fi, it was horror/fantasy/comedy.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @09:02PM
Ya, I understand some people really lime the over the top acting and commentary on our society, but I agree. Starship troopers is terrible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @08:57AM
Ghostbusters: scientists, pseudo-scientific terminology, proton/electron packs, and "alien entities" (ghosts). Is IMHO more science-fiction than some of the titles on the list.
(Score: 1) by gmrath on Sunday November 06 2016, @07:24PM
And Ice Pirates.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @09:48PM
Swashbuckling adventure in space. Pity they didn't make more like this.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Sunday November 06 2016, @07:42PM
Actually, Fifth element is definitely a must see.
The others you mentioned.. are ok, nothing spectacular... except maybe Ghostbusters which i agree with the other poster in the thread... more comedy than sci-fi.
But I do need to add Heavy Metal (1981). For some reason almost everyone I know who likes the Fifth Element likes Heavy Metal, and those that hate one hate the other. (Although Heavy metal definitely inspired parts of the Fifth Element.)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 06 2016, @11:19PM
If you like the movie heavy metal play the lucasarts video game full throttle.