The Best Science Fiction Films, 1970 to ...

[Kyuuketsuki]

OK,

Following on from my The Best Science Fiction Films, Pre 1970's thread here are the Science Fiction films I recall seeing post 1970 (inclusive):

* Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
* Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
* Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
* The Omega Man (1971)
* THX 1138 (1971)
* Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
* Silent Running (1972)
* Slaughterhouse Five (1972)
* Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
* The Day of the Dolphin (1973)
* Sleeper (1973)
* Soylent Green (1973)
* Westworld (1973)
* Dark Star (1974)
* Rollerball (1975)
* The Stepford Wives (1975)
* Logan's Run (1976)
* The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
* Damnation Alley (1977)
* Demon Seed (1977)
* Star Wars (1977)
* Capricorn One (1978)
* The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
* Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
* Alien (1979)
* The Black Hole (1979)
* Mad Max (1979)
* Moonraker (1979)
* Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
* Altered States (1980)
* Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
* The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
* The Final Countdown (1980)
* Flash Gordon (1980)
* Saturn 3 (1980)
* Escape from New York (1981)
* Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
* Outland (1981)
* Scanners (1981)
* Android (1982)
* Blade Runner (1982)
* E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
* Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
* The Thing (1982)
* Tron (1982)
* Return of the Jedi (1983)
* 1984 (1984)
* 2010 (1984)
* Dune (1984)
* The Last Starfighter (1984)
* The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
* Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
* Starman (1984)
* The Terminator (1984)
* Back to the Future (1985)
* Cocoon (1985)
* Enemy Mine (1985)
* Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
* Weird Science (1985)
* Aliens (1986)
* Flight of the Navigator (1986)
* The Fly (1986)
* Short Circuit (1986)
* Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
* Batteries Not Included (1987)
* Cherry 2000 (1987)
* Predator (1987)
* RoboCop (1987)
* The Running Man (1987)
* Spaceballs (1987)
* Alien Nation (1988)
* They Live (1988)
* The Abyss (1989)
* Back to the Future Part II (1989)
* Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
* Cyborg (1989)
* Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
* Back to the Future Part III (1990)
* Flatliners (1990)
* Dark Angel/I Come In Peace (1990)
* Hardware (1990)
* Predator 2 (1990)
* RoboCop 2 (1990)
* Total Recall (1990)
* The Rocketeer (1991)
* Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
* Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
* Alien 3 (1992)
* The Lawnmower Man (1992)
* Universal Soldier (1992)
* Demolition Man (1993)
* Jurassic Park (1993)
* RoboCop 3 (1993)
* Stargate (1994)
* Star Trek Generations (1994)
* Timecop (1994)
* Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
* Judge Dredd (1995)
* Species (1995)
* Twelve Monkeys (1995)
* Village of the Damned (1995)
* Waterworld (1995)
* Barb Wire (1996)
* Doctor Who (1996)
* Independence Day (1996)
* Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
* Alien Resurrection (1997)
* Contact (1997)
* Cube (1997)
* Event Horizon (1997)
* The Fifth Element (1997)
* Gattaca' (1997)
* The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
* Men in Black (1997)
* Starship Troopers (1997)
* Armageddon (1998)
* Dark City (1998)
* Deep Impact (1998)
* Godzilla (1998)
* Lost in Space (1998)
* Soldier (1998)
* Species II (1998)
* Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
* The Bicentennial Man (1999)
* Deep Blue Sea (1999)
* eXistenZ (1999)
* Galaxy Quest (1999)
* The Matrix (1999)
* Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
* Wing Commander (1999)
* The 6th Day (2000)
* Battlefield Earth (2000)
* Hollow Man (2000)
* K-PAX (2000)
* Mission to Mars (2000)
* Pitch Black (2000)
* Red Planet (2000)
* Supernova (2000)
* X-Men (2000)
* A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
* Evolution (2001)
* Ghosts of Mars (2001)
* Jurassic Park III (2001)
* The One (2001)
* Planet of the Apes (2001)
* Equilibrium (2002)
* Impostor (2002)
* Men in Black II (2002)
* Minority Report (2002)
* Reign of Fire (2002)
* Resident Evil (2002)
* Rollerball (2002)
* Solaris (2002)
* Spider-Man (2002)
* Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
* The Time Machine (2002)
* Hulk (2003)
* The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
* Paycheck (2003)
* Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
* Timeline (2003)
* X2 (2003)
* Alien vs. Predator (2004)
* Casshern (2004)
* The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
* The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
* Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
* Spider-Man 2 (2004)
* Æon Flux (2005)
* Doom (2005)
* Fantastic Four (2005)
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
* The Island (2005)
* Serenity (2005)
* Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
* War of the Worlds (2005)
* Children of Men (2006)
* Déjà Vu (2006)
* Superman Returns (2006)
* Ultraviolet (2006)
* V for Vendetta (2006)
* X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006)
* I Am Legend (2007)
* Meet the Robinsons (2007)
* Spider-Man 3 (2007)
* Transformers (2007)
* Iron Man (2008)
* Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)
* Stargate: Continuum (2008)
* WALL-E (2008)

The following films, I am not sure about ... are they actually science fiction?

* Superman (1978)
* Superman II (1980)
* Superman III (1983)
* Ghostbusters (1984)
* Gremilns (1984)
* Lifeforce (1985)
* Masters of the Universe (1987)
* Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
* Ghostbusters II (1989)
* Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
* Night Watch (2004)
* Slither (2006)

Kyu

[athoughtfulman]

You know your movies.

I probably haven't seen half of them, probably not even a quarter. Going through them I recognised one every now and then, and barely any in the pre-1970s thread.

At any rate, I prefer the new films. I've seen a couple of the older ones, usually when I was at school, but never really got into them. I hope one day I find an appreciation of older movies

[Kyuuketsuki]

You know your movies.

What can I say? I'm a geek (and proud of it).

At any rate, I prefer the new films. I've seen a couple of the older ones, usually when I was at school, but never really got into them. I hope one day I find an appreciation of older movies

You should try and here's a couple of reasons ...

Whilst the remake of "War Of The Worlds" had it's plus points the original is in many ways better (the priest walking towards the Martians is an absolutely classic moment even if it does play into dumb religious thought).

For all the money and SFX in the remake "The Day The Earth Stood Still" the original (even in black & white) is a far superior film.

It's almost true that ALL movie remakes are inferior to the originals IMO.

Kyu

[Tiberius]

How is V for Vendetta science fiction? Surely it is a political piece that contains vague references to science fiction? (V's ability to heal is the only solid example I can think of).

[Kyuuketsuki]

How is V for Vendetta science fiction? Surely it is a political piece that contains vague references to science fiction? (V's ability to heal is the only solid example I can think of).

I would say it's science fiction because it is clearly an alternate history ... I've always thought that one of the beauties of SF is the idea that you can take a very ordinary story and by changing simple things (like history or setting it becomes science fiction. Alien is a classic example ... it's obviously science fiction yet at its core it's a horror movie (specifically a haunted house only the house is a space ship).

Kyu

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Gattica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattica


If you're going to include "Waterworld" I think

"The Postman " also needs to be included
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_(film)

as well as "Escape from Absolom" (No Escape)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Absolom

Plus " Escape from New York" (1981)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_New_York

The BBC "Threads" (1984) is a vastly better film than "The Day After" imo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads


Please don't think these additions are in any way a criticism of your lists,which I think are excellent. I'm merely sharing some I like. I apologise if I've inadvertently included any which are already on your lists.

[leo-rcc]

Jason X (2001)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211443/

I laughed my pants off. Brilliant film.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Gattica

I only got part way through that ... enjoyed it but never got back to it, can't remember why. I really should watch it again.

"The Postman " also needs to be included

Agreed ... never seen it but always said I will watch it without prejudice (I'm aware of the negative rep it's got). I'm one of the few people who quite liked Waterworld ... not a classic by any means and the ending is laughable in the way it tries to make his departure in some way meaningful and enigmatic (a simple happy ever after was all it needed ... and deserved), no intellect required but otherwise ... yeah, OK, whatever.

as well as "Escape from Absolom" (No Escape)

Looks interesting, I will have to watch that .... arrr!

Plus " Escape from New York" (1981)

Jesus! How did I miss Plisskin? Didn't they do a sequel ... Escape from LA or something?

The BBC "Threads" (1984) is a vastly better film than "The Day After" imo

It's a play though, not a film.

Please don't think these additions are in any way a criticism of your lists,which I think are excellent. I'm merely sharing some I like. I apologise if I've inadvertently included any which are already on your lists.

They weren't and the whole idea is to get other people's ideas of what is good science fiction before we have a grand vote off.

You've made me think of to more as well ...

* Firefox (1982)
* Fortress (1993)
* The Arrival (1996)
* XChange (2000)

EDIT: The Imposter or The Impostor (2001)

Kyu

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

I think "Mars Attacks" is one of the funniest sci fi movies I've seen.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Attacks!

I saw "Threads" on VHS. That makes it a film in my book. Besides most film genres are essentially plays in three acts.

[Edwardo Piet]

What can I say? I'm a geek (and proud of it).

WOO! Go you!
Geeks rock

I love the list...I must say though I think that the Hulk film from 2003 was rubbish and I couldn't help seeing that was there in the list...but hey, - that's just me.

I think the first predator was excellent. Brilliant film I think. I wasn't so bothered with the second one...

I love all the Back to the future films and terminator films (although I don't think the last one was as good; still good though).

I quite enjoyed the 6th day and lots of others...including some of the list I forget about....

i.Robot is one of my favourite science fiction films ever btw...it's totally awesome IMO. Could even be my favourite...possibly; - I think its an incredible film.

I don't think superman is science fiction...if it has any - or enough, however much that would be - science fiction elements then perhaps you could class them (or one of them at least, or however many) as science fiction...although it is more specifically the more specific superhero genre I think...

Now Ghostbusters does, I believe, contain some science fiction elements...perhaps it could be classified as comedy-sci-fi?
Its also Got a lot of paranormal stuff in it obviously - Ghosts lol.

EvF