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Slant's Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time


A24

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Interesting list. Some are ranked too high, some too low. And some obvious gems are missing altogether. But then it also has its fair share of reasonable and/or cool, creative picks.

 

I've seen 69 of these films; I'm particularly missing a few of the old Eastern European ones.

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Of course, one could argue whether Alien is really a science fiction film. I mean, some say it's foremost a horror movie because the futuristic science itself doesn't play a major role in the story.

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They have used the broadest possible definition of sci-fi.

 

Some of them are kinda dramas with the sci-fi just providing the context for it with the story not engaging with any scientific fictional elements at all.

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...and some films are pure allegory.

 

I express a personal disappointment that 2010 is not somewhere on that list. It deserves more than being regarded as an add-on.

 

BACK TO THE FUTURE? 1986?

THE TERMINATOR? 1985?

Reeeeealllllly?

 

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14 hours ago, mstrox said:

There's a robot guy

 

Star Wars is filled with robots and yet it's Fantasy. It's Lord Of The Rings put in space. 

 

11 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

John Carpenter's The Thing in the Top 10 is just wrong!

 

Well, I agree. I've always been was a bit baffled with why that movie is considered to be one of the best sci-fi works ever made. Not that it's bad, mind you, but to rank it amongst the very best science fiction movies?! Heck, can we even call it sci-fi?

 

9 hours ago, Richard said:

I express a personal disappointment that 2010 is not somewhere on that list. It deserves more than being regarded as an add-on.

 

 

Maybe it arrived at 101? Personally, if I was Slant, I would have forgotten about it too. 

 

 

Slant ... Alex Slant.

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Very few sci fi movies are 'pure' sci fi movies, whatever that is; they're usually a combination of various genres. As is the case in genre theory in general. Although several of the films in the list have these traits, I see no problem in their eligibility for such a project. Films like THE THING and ALIEN are definitely sci fi movies, even if they have a powerful horror/monster genre aspect.

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Yes, but within the context of a "100 best" you need to define whether you're ranking the best science fiction movies, or the best movies which are also sci-fi.

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I mean, I never think of Jurassic Park as being a sci-fi movie, even though it clearly has science fiction elements at its core. But it's an adventure movie at heart. I'm not above to get my back up about it being featured on some sci-fi list though, I'm not going to split hairs.

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I'm sure they have their parameters. When we do genre lists, we tend to inform the readers about the parameters in the lead paragraps. Others, like Slant, no doubt have a more internal set of parameters. I agree with Quint, no reason to split hairs on eligibilty. I'm more concerned about the omission of certain titles (EVENT HORIZON would be a top 10 contender for me, for example, and it's not even on their list).

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2 hours ago, Thor said:

I'm sure they have their parameters. When we do genre lists, we tend to inform the readers about the parameters in the lead paragraps. Others, like Slant, no doubt have a more internal set of parameters. I agree with Quint, no reason to split hairs on eligibilty. I'm more concerned about the omission of certain titles (EVENT HORIZON would be a top 10 contender for me, for example, and it's not even on their list).

As much as I dislike that film, I found its omission odd as well, especially considering that Resident Evil is on there. 

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5 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

As much as I dislike that film, I found its omission odd as well, especially considering that Resident Evil is on there. 

 

(Most of) the RESIDENT EVIL films are great -- and highly underrated as a mythological creation -- but they pale in comparison to EVENT, which IMO is one of the best films of the 90s regardless of genre.

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Soon to be a TV series.

 

@Thor

Out of interest, do you like Event Horizon out of a love for its schlocky panto scares, or is it something more than that? Because I'm a fan of the movie, as an entertaining B-grade corny horror.

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The only redeeming qualities of EH are the sets and optical effects. However, the worst aspect is its poor direction. That's why you won't find this movie on any list!

 

 

Alex Slant, at your service.

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2 hours ago, Quintus said:

Soon to be a TV series.

 

@Thor

Out of interest, do you like Event Horizon out of a love for its schlocky panto scares, or is it something more than that? Because I'm a fan of the movie, as an entertaining B-grade corny horror.

It has Kathleen Quinlan, so it's not all bad.

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I’ve seen #1 2001, #40 Forbidden Planet, #41 Dark City, #44 The Empire Strikes Back, #53 E.T., #61 Back to the Future, #77 Planet of the Apes, #98 Flash Gordon (I think just part of it).

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2 hours ago, Quintus said:

Soon to be a TV series.

 

@Thor

Out of interest, do you like Event Horizon out of a love for its schlocky panto scares, or is it something more than that? Because I'm a fan of the movie, as an entertaining B-grade corny horror.

 

Something more than that -- primarily its use of various 'eye' and 'portal' imagery as visual motifs relating to the soul (or corruption of the soul), as well as the use of green and red as indicators for life and death. It has one corny, out-of-place sequence that seems to be from another film, almost (shortly after the ship is sabotaged), but the rest is fantastic -- including the operatic, Clive Barker-ish final act. I go into some more detail in this article -- in Norwegian, but pretty intelligible through Google Translate: https://montages.no/2017/08/event-horizon-1997/

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