SF movies meme

[dalekboy]

Half-inched from Ariaflame, who got it from Angriest, who got it from Stephen Dedman.

Time Out's list of essential science fiction films. Italicise the ones you've seen, and bold those you like, and strike-through the ones you disliked.


The Abyss (1989)
Alien (1979)
Batteries Not Included (1987) *
Cocoon (1985) *
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Battlefield Earth (2000)
The Black Hole (1979)
Cherry 2000 (1987)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) *
Contact (1997)
Sphere (1998)
Critters (1986)
Dark Star (1974)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Dune (1984)
Earth vs The Flying Saucers (1956)
Enemy Mine (1985) *
Event Horizon (1997) *
Explorers (1985)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Sunshine (2007)
Flash Gordon (1980)
Flesh Gordon (1974) *
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Fountain (2006) *
Howard the Duck (1986)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Hidden (1987)
The Last Starfighter (1984)
The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) *
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Metropolis (1927)
Morons from Outer Space (1985) *
Pitch Black (2000)
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Red Planet (2000) *
Mission to Mars (2000) *
Repo Man (1984)
Brother From Another Planet (1984)
Serenity (2005)
Silent Running (1972)
Solaris (1972)
Solaris (2002)
Soylent Green (1973)
Spaceballs (1987) *
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)
Ice Pirates (1984) *
Solarbabies (1986) *
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Star Trek Generations (1994)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek Nemesis (2002)
Star Trek (2009)
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Starship Troopers (1997)
Supernova (2000) *
The Thing (1982)
Things To Come (1936)
This Island Earth (1955)
Total Recall
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
War of the Worlds (1953)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Independence Day (1996) *
Zardoz (1974) *



* These are films that I'd need to see again to determine whether I liked them, disliked them, or was ambivalent about them. I wasn't prepared to swing one way or the other regarding them.

Also in the case of a film like E.T. I'd want to see the original version, where the agents carry guns, otherwise my dislike of fiddling with the source material would colour my opinion.

And hey, Battlefield Earth is essential, but Blade Runner isn't? WTF?

Comments

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

I am in awe.

But yes, I have some reservations myself about their 'essentialness'

[king-espresso.livejournal.com]

I'd do this meme but it would remind me how many bad but popular SF films there are and I sometimes find that a little disheartening.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I think you should try to do it. I'd be curious to see how many you shot down. I don't always agree with your opinion, but I'm always interested in it.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Looking at the published article, Battlefield Earth isn't listed, so either it was added by whoever turned this into a meme, or it was deleted later.

Can't explain the absence of Blade Runner, unless the list was originally written for the benefit of someone who hadn't seen any sf films except Star Wars and Blade Runner, or that the only reference material they used was the sf shelf of a video library where Blade Runner was out on loan.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I checked Time Out's page and apparently films like Blade Runner and Fahrenheit 451 aren't there because they weren't doing dystopian movies. The implication was they'd be doing another list.

So I wonder, was Battlefield Earth added by some who loves Scientology, or someone who hates it?

[capnoblivious.livejournal.com]

I'm really surprised that Quatermass and the Pit is one of the few you haven't seen - I'd have thought it right up your alley.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of weird gaps in my films. Haven't seen Shawshank Redemption, Singin' in the Rain, The Killing to name a few.

Part of it is down to opportunity and time. Most video libraries don't stock much range, especially the older flicks. These days I don't really watch more than a couple of hours worth of TV a week, so I don't check the TV guides and will miss when these things are on. And the majority of fans aren't into the classics either, so the folks I could loan from is quite a small group, and most of them are either in Melbourne or Perth!

I do actually have the DVD release of the original Quatermass serials from the BBC because I sell them. That's where the time comes in, especially now when, if I have the time, I may be too tired to appreciate a really good film. There's just so much stuff out there you can watch, so picking what to watch when also gets hard.