Dean's Thoughts on Entertainment

Top Sci-Fi Movies of all Time

First, I have to explain what a Science Fiction movie is. Most importantly Science Fiction is not Horror, it can have that element within it but it is not required. It isn’t Fantasy, so Lord of the Rings does not qualify as Science Fiction. It has to be intelligent in its portrayal of the Scientific Fiction that exists, coherence is more important in Sci-Fi then in most genre’s. It generally takes place in the future, or in space and often is both; and it usually involves the exploration of something unknown. I have excluded many Science Fiction movies because within my list I chose movies that excited me and I could get mentally involved with them in a dreamlike fashion. So while 2001: A Space Odyssey is brilliant, I don’t dream about floating in space and talking to a robot computer, so it failed to qualify. With all that said…

Aliens

Its Cameron again with another great Sci-Fi film. He threw in some humor which Ridley Scott left out of the original and he also stepped up the effects. The battle in the metal suit is awesome, and the stakes were much higher in general. I didn’t accept the whole series because the first movie is really just a horror film and the last two were lousy with Resurrection being one of the most repellent movies of all time. Aliens also gets points for having two of the roughest women in movie history, and Bill Paxton the biggest whiner in all Marines history. “Game Over Man, Game Over!”

Pitch Black



I was a big fan of this one and I’m putting it on the list despite my being the only person who liked it. Vin Diesel was excellent as Riddick, and you know I love Keith David. The conflicts and situations within the movie were all very original, and I really got into the characters. The story follows a crew of people who crash land on a planet that is about to go into solar eclipse, the problem being the inhabitants of the planet only come out when the sun is down. Diesel is the evil prisoner they were transporting who they now have to rely on because he kicks far more anus than they do. Overall, very good, it just disappointed people who wanted a horror film instead of a Sci-Fi.

The Abyss

James Cameron was so good before he made Titanic, and this is one of his finest pieces. The movie had enough action, romance, suspense, and intrigue to delight any audience and the movie has a great ending.

Cube

This movie was intense throughout, and the confinement of the Cube started to get to you as you watched it. The conflicts between the survivors were all very interesting, and the only thing in the movie that was suspect is the ending. But you know how symbolic endings go… The story begins with a bunch of random people who have awoke within this giant cube and are trying to grasp where they are and how they can escape. The cube rooms that make up the inconceivably larger cube are often booby trapped and the conflict is that you have to try to figure out what the trigger is for the trap so that you can determine if the room can be traveled through or not. Its good, don’t refuse it.

Starship Troopers

One of Paul Verherhoeven’s many inclusions on this list; Starship Troopers is one of the best futuristic movies around. As I said in my review a few months ago, it’s an interesting look at the world as if Fascism had won over the world instead of Democracy, because most Sci-Fi movies either go for Utopia or Apocalypse for their landscape and this twist was refreshing. I still think about this movie and what it said on a regular basis, and as an added bonus you get Doogie Howser as a telepathic war strategist.

Total Recall

Paul Verherhoeven’s second to make the list, this one delves into the future colony of Mars. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Quaid who unlocked part of his memory and begins upon a quest to discover his “special agent” past and take down the corrupt leaders of the Mars Colony. It has everything that you would want from Verherhoeven and it is one of Arnold’s better roles from his long career. Plus, I think it is the best movie about Mars, let me think about that…yeah…I think it’s the best one about Mars.

Star Wars – The Series
Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back/Return of the Jedi/The Phantom Menace/The Clone Wars

Despite the flak the prequels have gotten the whole series does deserve to be included on the list. We (Speaking mostly of men) have all dreamed of flying the Millennium Falcon and I would give one of my arms to be able to equip my remaining arm with a light saber. The simplistic world within Star Wars is too appealing not to dream of, because I would love to live in a world where Good and Evil were so clearly made known. I would enlist in the rebellion, snort MetaChlorians until I made it into the Jedi Order, and then wreck on storm troopers in all my one armed glory. The world of Star Wars is very coherent, and it is still the Bible for any Science Fiction series.

Star Trek (The Next Generation Movies)
First Contact/Generations/Insurrection/Nemesis

I thought about ruling this one out because the brilliance of the movies lies in the depth of the characters which is rooted in a TV show and not in the movies alone. However, they are good enough on their own merit to grab a spot on the list, and they deserve it so much more with consideration of the backstory that the show provides. Few ensemble casts will work as well as the Next Generation crew, and the writers for the show were probably some of the best that have ever been assembled. The action was stepped up for all the movies, but the great intelligence of Jean-Luc Picard still rules over might and wins the day. I would hope that most of you would be willing to watch them despite the fear of becoming a “Nerd”, because it is a deep and thrilling series.

Robocop

Paul Verherhoeven’s final entrance to the list is the graphic and stylish Robocop. It takes place in a more depraved version of today’s society, and as crime became more cruel and rampant the police decide to try out a Robocop who would be more likely to survive encounters with criminals. The Robocop was built out of a recently dismantled officer (and by dismantled I mean shot to bits for all he viewing audience to enjoy) but he retains little of his memory and personality. The action is great, but once again it is the worldview within the movie that made it so interesting. The special effects are a bit lacking because this one was right at the beginning of many of our great advancements in effects, but they are still enjoyable and effective.

The X-Men Series
X-Men/X-2

I debated whether or not this was a science fiction, and obviously I decided it was. X-Men is taking today’s society and throwing in the idea of mutation which is founded on a scientific idea. Bryan Singer is a great director and the source work for the movies is so vast that I suspect the movies will be good for as long as they make them (Although that didn’t save Daredevil, The Hulk, Batman, etc). The commentary of the movies is almost as good as the comics, although CJ thinks that X-2 is more of a satire of our view on Homosexuality instead of Racism. Our society loves gay people now though, so maybe we can thank the X-Men.

The Mad Max Series
Mad Max/The Road Warrior/Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome/Waterworld



The series is hinged upon the second movie because it kicked so much rear it forced its way onto the list. Mad Max set up the world and the character, much like George Romero’s Dead series where each movie reveals the world as more and more dissolved from what it was. In another similarity Dawn of the Dead the second movie in that series is by far the best, but I digress. I think Mad Max is not as far from possible as people assume, because if Anarchy was to set in, I would expect some Mad Max like factions to be created. Waterworld took Mad Max and placed it in the water, and although not as good, it takes many of the same elements and just changed up the pieces. In Mad Max gas is money, in Waterworld Dirt is money and so on. I may be the only person to group them together as such, but if you watch them you’ll see why. And you can’t tell me that Waterworld is much worse than Thunderdome so I don’t think it degrades the trilogy in any way.

Logan’s Run/Minority Report/Demolition Man

The price of Utopia was probably the most intriguing element within Logan’s Run, Demolition Man, and Minority Report. Since Logan’s Run is an older choice I will explain its premise. The society is based entirely on hedonistic pleasure and the society is built up entirely of young people. So when someone is born they have a jewel implanted in their hand, and when they reach a certain age the jewel lights up and they are due for extinction. If they choose to run then the Sandmen find them and finish the job. Michael York stars as a Sandman who finds something he shouldn’t and has his jewel set off early, so he must run from his own kind. The effects are a bit dated, and I would be interested in a modern remake, but the movie was still cool even today. Minority Report is similar in many respects but it’s Utopia is based on Pre-Crime which has telepaths reveal crimes before they happen so that they can be stopped ahead of time. And in a similar way Tom Cruise gets screwed and has to run from his own unit to find out the truth. They are both good, but I think I liked Logan’s Run better. As for Demolition Man the price of their Utopia was that everything was illegal, and when someone commits a crime they are frozen and removed from society. When Wesley Snipes busts out of Cryosleep they need to bust out Stallone (An older policeman frozen before the Utopia began) as well to bring him down. This one is less intelligent than the previous two but I felt like throwing it in for fun.

The Matrix

The sequels are not worth admitting, and they actually could almost remove this first one they sucked so badly. But on its own merit this is a great Sci-Fi movie which takes a funky fresh spin on today’s world. During the first movie there is a lot of philosophy and religious subtext so much that books are still being written on the subject. The philosophical depth of the movie as well as the stunning special effects make it one of the best, and despite the jokes I thought Keanu Reeves did a good job in the movie. Because, if I learned Kung Fu in 30 seconds I think I would react much the same…”I know Kung Fu.?!.” The combat sequences are pants-wetting and I only wish that I could fight and move at a quicker fragment of time. The characters were much better in this one as well, Morpheus still destroyed worlds, Trinity had only floated in the air once so far, Cyrus was a nice Judas-like villain, and agent Smith was a clever enemy twist. This movie is groundbreaking, it is such a shame that the sequels used the broken ground to bury itself.

Equilibrium



This movie was panned over because it was “too Matrix-like” but this one was still very unique and the fighting in it was quite wondrous. The other reason it was avoided was its star, since Christian Bale has yet to fully establish himself as a leading man of power. In my mind, there is no longer a question, Christian Bale is amazing. This movie is rooted in Fahrenheit 451, which is one of my favorite classic books, with just a few twists for action sake. The story follows Christian and his partner who are both two of the most elite fighting men in the world. So when things get really bad, you send in one of them instead of the SWAT team. The world in which they live is entirely devoid of individuality, pleasure, or emotions and therefore peaceful; the reason being is that everyone takes a shot in the morning which keeps them from feeling emotions all day. Outlaws are then people who “feel” because they have stopped taking the medicine. When Christian screws up his meds one morning he begins to feel and opts out of taking them; Action and drama ensues. The action is intense and tight, and worthy of many repeat viewings. And since it is rooted in a quality book the story and characters are well done. I recommend highly to those who have missed this one.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within



Another pick that was largely panned over in America, the reason being it was a bit too Eastern for most people. I liked it. It was like a big-budget Japanimation that made sense, how much better can it get? I placed Akira on this list too, but even that one has about 15 minutes of stuff that makes no sense to me, while I understood Final Fantasy all along and ate it up. The best part is the voice-over cast that they somehow pulled together; Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, Keith David, Ving Rhames, James Woods, and Alec Baldwin. OK, maybe that isn’t the best part; the best part is actually the animation which is so real I forgot a few times that it was animated. Even though it made less money than they hoped, I am interested in future movie products from Square because they are the closest to being able to replace actors with animation. This movie is really good, and it has almost nothing to do with the game title if that is why you skipped it, it is just like I said “A big-budget Japanimation that made sense.”

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

I had to put Kubrick on here at least once and since I gonged 2001 in the intro, I had to allow A.I. Actually, I liked A.I. and I wish Spielberg didn’t ruin it with his fruity ending. (Kubrick was set to make it and had most of the script work together before he died and Spielberg took over to honor/piss on him) The story can be easily explained, it is simply a futuristic telling of the Pinocchio story. Haley Joel Osment stars as a robotic boy who has emotions, and dreams of being a real boy. The movie has Kubrick’s edge in the beginning as the events seem to be so pointed they dig right under your skin. I’m not sure but I think you might like it better if you stop the movie right after Haley descends into the waterat the end, before Spielberg gets to make his mark.

Akira

Probably the best Japanimation that I have seen, but I have seen only a few. (Fist of the North Star, Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell, Animatrix, Fatal Fury, Some movie about killing red demons, and Street Fighter 2 the Movie) It has your standard Japanimation elements, uberviolence, takes place in an Apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, and people scream a lot. Canada (it may not be spelled the same as the country, but I felt it did in my head) stars as the nice young motorcycle gang member who ends up getting sucked into a conflict between children of mental powers and the new government. Canada’s friend develops some of these powers and goes too far, and before long…tentacles. But it all has a happy ending, and we get to see at least one rocket launcher during the movie. Its good fun stuff, and those of you who don’t watch Japanimation should at least watch this one since it has arisen as the father of all Anime.

The Terminator Series
Terminator 1-3

The First Terminator was a good 80’s Sci-Fi movie, it had Michael Biehn and Arnold as a robot so the equation came together well. The second movie took all the good things from the first movie and made them golden, and then poured money all over it to make on of the most popular movies of all time. The basic premise of all three is that in the future Machines take over the world and one of the humans of that day starts to wreck on them. So instead of beating him up in the future, they go back in time to kill him early. So in the first movie they try to kill his mom, in the sequel he is about 16, and he is in his twenties in the third movie. Arnold is the robot warrior who is sent back, in the first movie he is the villain but in the sequels he is the hero who defends against a more advanced Terminator. It’s an action extravaganza, and T2 has some of the sweetest action sequences ever in it. And honestly the first movie is good, most people skip it, but this is a mistake. Watch all three, in a row and then smile.

The Running Man/They Live

These are the guilty pleasure movies, the ones that you watch to laugh along with. They Live is epic in how funny it is to watch, and the Running Man has some of Arnold’s best stupid dialogue in the span of his career, plus you get Jesse “The Body” Ventura. The Running Man is the best combination of two good things Arnold and Stephen King. That’s right Stephen King wrote the basis for The Running Man, and it details the futuristic reality show where criminals get their death sentence handed to them by glorified WWF wrestlers. It’s hilarious. They Live follows Rowdy Roddy Piper (A Glorified WWF Wrestler) who is a lowly blue collar guy who stumbles upon evidence that aliens live among us. The sunglasses that he found that reveal them, set off a chain of events that ultimately bring Keith David’s knee to his crotch about 5 times. You cannot continue living without seeing They Live.

The Fifth Element

Luc Besson steps into the world of Sci-Fi and unites Bruce Willis, Chris Tucker, and Milla Jovovich into one movie. If that wasn't enough for you, then consider the fact that D-Bo from Friday aka Tim "Tiny" Lister plays the president. Still not excited? Stop reading my blog, your not my friend.

Galaxy Quest

Probably the best farce or parody ever released. The movie took its premise and ran with it cashing in on every possible joke but without overdoing it or getting too goofy like a Mel Brooks movie would be. The comic prowess of the cast is excellent especially from Alan Rickman and Tony Shaloub who are joined by the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, and Sam Rockwell. Worth repeated viewings.

Ultra Warrior



This movie isn’t good, actually this is probably the worst movie ever made. But since my friends always want to watch it despite my warnings I thought I would take the time to smash it in my blog. The Premise…well there is no premise. In the future roving gangs fight, and for no reason at all a naked three breasted woman dances in the moonlight. As far as I know that was symbolic of our Checks and Balances government, and the Judicial Branch was rocking it out in the middle. This movie also had your token obnoxious black guy who had white guys trying to write his jive talk, and it’s awful. The special effects were poor and I think they filmed in a junkyard to give the apocalyptic feel of destruction. I can’t find anything good about this movie and I was searching hard to find some. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me.