10 Greatest Science Fiction Movies to Date

Fans of science fiction are probably already aware of the list of films that are part and parcel of this review - but new fans of the genre sometimes called "sci fi" or "SciFi" should find these films and savor where movies are today. These are the top ten science fiction movies made to date, in my humble opinion.

10 - Ghostbusters (1984)
Yes, this IS a science fiction movie! Funny, but still - these boys carried around hand-held particle field detectors, had a laser-force field generator for containing spooks, and backpack nuclear particle accelerators! Not typically considered science fiction, I know, but when you take into account the super-science gadgets that the entire movie relied upon, this is purely and simply sci fi. The movie that undeniably made Bill Murray a star, and put Harold Ramis in a class of his own as a film writer.

9 - Forbidden Planet (1956)
Relying not so much on "gee whiz" special effects (but there are some), but more on the development of the characters, and a plot structure that puts the viewer on the edge of their seats. Watch this film closely and you will recognize actors who stuck around throughout their lives - and some who are still on television and in movies! Stars Leslie Nielsen when he was still being cast as the handsome leading man.

8 - Star Wars (1977)
The movie that made science fiction respectable, from a financial perspective. Again, the film focused on the plot, action sequences, a few "gosh was that cool" special effects, and characters who have become icons. You even hear non-geeks saying "Use the Force, Luke" 30 years later, and any stone-cold politician elected today sometimes gets referred to as a Vader-like character.

7 - Alien (1979)
Technically, a horror movie, but the terror that goes bump in the night is a virus-like alien with motivations too primal to be dealt with, except by extermination. The collapse of the crew of the Nostromo while trying to remove this creature from within leads to a harrowing escape sequence that no one who sees it soon forgets.

6 - The Terminator (1984)
The movie that made Arnold Schwarzenegger an action hero icon - even though he was the villain. Time traveling cyborg comes back in time to kill the future mother of the savior of the human race, in a relentless rampage of cold-blooded murder. A remake, not a sequel, is inevitable, with the upgrades made to special effects - but no one will ever say "I'll be back" without a Germanic accent ever again.

5 - Equilibrium (2002)
Perhaps the least-known of the films in this list, Equilibrium combines the dystopian elements of several novels (the one the next film is based upon), 1984, and Brave New World will all immediately flash to mind, and combines it with action sequences straight out of Star Wars, High Noon, and Enter the Dragon.

4 - Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Based upon one of the two novels ever written by sci fi master writer Ray Bradbury, this novel of people giving up their right to knowledge for the comfort of being unaware is purely disturbing in its portrayal of a populace that has lost its soul, and a society that has turned anti-intellectualism into a rabid system of government (sound familiar?).

3 - 12 Monkeys (1995)
An "end of the world" story, in which the last of the human race has been forced to move underground to escape a man-made plague, and time travel has been invented in order to try to send back political and violent criminals into the past in order to try to stop the deed. Possibly the best film that eclectic, eccentric and surreal director Gilliam has ever made.

2 - The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The movie credited with being the first "smart" science fiction film, features the scenario of an alien race coming to Earth to warn us off of nuclear weapons - or face extinction at their hands to prevent our violent race from ever leaving the planet. "Gort, Klaatu verata nikto!" Also the first time a humanoid robot was used in a film, this anti-atomic weapons film is a classic.

1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Who else but director Stanley Kubrick could get away with making a two hour and twenty-one minute movie in which the first and last twenty minutes contain no dialog - and most of the movie has little dialog, and a central character that is an insane computer? "Open the pod bay doors, Hal" and "It's full of stars!" are classic lines of the tensions that mount throughout this, the greatest science fiction film of all time.

You may ask "Where is Blade Runner?" The original theatrical release had a major gaping plot gap - that was more than ably filled by the Director's Cut edition. So, I left it off, since the original, while sublimely disturbing, is a shadow of what the director Ridley Scott had envisioned.