Solaris (1972)
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Bomb (1964)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Capricorn One (1977)
Westworld (1973)
Metropolis (1926)
Gladiatorerna (1969)
Things to Come (1936)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Alien (1979)
"Making a list like this immediately invites a second list, featuring neglected pets which might or might not be sf, but who cares. Like Speilberg's Duel (1971), and of course the original King Kong (1933), whose theme of beast from the subconscious erupting in the midst of a civilization - well, New York - is so grand it ought to be sf. None of 1950s wave of sf films reaches my list; there was not quite room for The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). The ten I have chosen offer fresh viewpoints on life, are often startling, even on successive showings, and rate rather well merely as cinema. But they are minority tastes; if the sf cinema is to retain vitality and subversive intent, it must remain a minority taste and not try to hit the warm hearts of Middle America."
Things to Come (1936)
The Thing (1951)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Dark Star (1974)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Stalker (1979)
The Fly (1986)
"Of course I thought of Metropolis, but omitted it partly on the basis that I'm fonder of maybe as many as ten of Lang's other films. I do regret having no room for the James Whale Things to Come (1936) films, not to mention God Told Me To, but as with horror I'll allow myself just one tv film, the BBC serial of Quatermass and the Pit, which gives Kneale's ideas more room to breathe than Hammer version did."
Metropolis (1926)
Things to Come (1936)
Frankenstein (1931)
King Kong (1933)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Thing (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Special Edition
(1980)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
"The above is a rough-cut of my best: I may change my mind on some, but not many ... There's no way I can keep it to ten films - and I'm still brooding about Return of the Jedi (1983), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982) etc. Actually it would make more sense to make two lists: Most Important and Best."
Aliens (1986)
Blade Runner (1982)
Brazil (1985)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Metropolis (1926)
Quatermass II (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
"Obvious choices, for the most part, with the possible exception of James Cameron's Aliens, which I prefer to Ridley Scott's predictable killing-by-numbers original. Scott's atmospheric but incoherent Blade Runner, on the other hand, virtually reinvented the look of the modern sf movie, despite being a travesty of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Similarly incoherent, but visually and intellectually dazzling, Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth is one of the few 'serious' sf pictures of recent years to have stood the test of time."
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Flash Gordon (1936)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Metropolis (1926)
Star Wars (1977)
Superman - The Movie (1978)
Things to Come (1936)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
War of the Worlds (1953)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
The Thing (1951)
Not of This Earth (1957)
Flash Gordon (1936)
The Parasite Murders (1974)
Alphaville (1965)
Quatermass II (1957)
Metropolis (1926)
Silent Running (1971)
Dark Star (1974)
Der Grosse Verhau (1970)
"My concern has been to pinpoint resonant moments in the history of sf film. Accordingly I have bypassed many of the accepted highpoints of the genre: any history that only covers the peaks is no more than an introduction to its subject and the time is long gone when sf, both literature and film, needed a mere introduction. Nonetheless, with a couple of exceptions, the films I've chosen are hardly undiscovered gems. It isthe context they form, the tradition they represent, that I hope is informative. It is a tradition in which special effects are of secondary importance to ideas and in which ideas are filmically realized rather than merely stated. Hence the absence of recent blockbusters like Star Wars (1977), which for all their self-conscious charm lack the innocence that gives wing to the pulp poetry of Flash Gordon; and the absence of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) which for all its incidental splendors lacks the controlled imagination of the likes of Metropolis or Alphaville. Hence the presence of films like Dark Star, Silent Running and Der Grosse Verhau which simply have the feel of sf literature (a rare occurence on the sf screen) and The Parasite Murders and The Man Who Fell to Earth which are both ruthless and relentless in their "what if" speculations and vibrantly achieved as films. And lastly, hence The Thing, Not of This Earth and Quatermass II, beacons still shining bright from the 1950s, the decade in the history of the sf film."
"I find it difficult to list a top ten, but I will name the best sf film ever done. H.G. Wells' Things to Come (1936). In California I showed it to a class I was doing for teachers of sf in high schools. It was a beautifully clean print. The film itself still holds up; the acting, wrting, direction - even the sets and the model work. I think it belongs in the top ten best films of all time - and is certainly the sf classic."
Blade Runner (1982)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Frankenstein (1931)
Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
The Thing (1982)
Things to Come (1936)
Videodrome (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Robocop (1987)
Videodrome (1982)
Danger: Diabolik (1967)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Demon Seed (1977)
Star Wars (1977)
Alien (1979)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Things to Come (1936)
Blade Runner (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Dune (1984)
Aliens (1986)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Star Wars (1977)
Back to the Future (1985)
"The sf movie is a genre that has really only come into
its own during the past decade or so, thanks to the incredible advances
made in cinematic special effects. The above list reflects these changes,
with only one film representing the 1950s sf boom (although I do have a
great fondness for War of the Worlds [1953] and It Came from
Outer Space [1953]). Things to Come is on there because it has
a truly epic scope, although a longer list would have included Lang's
equally visionary Metropolis (1926). In retrospect, sf movies from
the 1960s are not particularly inspiring, although Dr Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963), Terrore
nello Spazio (1965) and Planet of the Apes (1968) would always
win out, if only for their inherent weirdness, over such techno-tedium
as Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
I would also have liked to include (just for their entertainment
value) such recent titles, combining fast-paced narrative with state-of-the-art
effects, as The Final Programme (1973), Invasion of the Body
Snatchers (1978) - like Carpenter's The Thing, much better
than the original - Time after Time (1979), Mad Max 2 (1981),
The Terminator (1984), Explorers (1985) and Robocop
(1987)."
Alien (1979)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The Birds (1963)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
The Illustrated Man (1968)
On the Beach (1959)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
"As a novelist, mood and atmosphere appeal to me even more than a well-conceived plot, interesting structure or good characterization. My top ten films, therefore, tend to be those that are very atmospheric, or those that happen to set a certain original mood. Some of the films are flawed, but it is the fragments, the little sparks of originality, that makes me love them so much."
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Alphaville (1965)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
La Jetee (1963)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Je T'Aime Je T'Aime (1967)
Quintet (1979)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Dark Star (1974)
"I have excluded films which, for all their sf connections, I consider belong more properly to horror. Thus, there is no place for King Kong (1933), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Mad Love (1935), Les Yeux Sans Visage (1959) or The Birds (1963). Basicall, sf in the cinema seems to me to be suffering from a case of arrested development. Too narrow a focus on alien invaders, BEMs, technological marvels; too little inclination to explore in the (often amused) wake of writers like Philip K. Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, Fritz Leiber, Alfred Bester, Clifford D. Simak, Philip Jose Farmer, Henry Kuttner, Fred Brown. God preserve us from any more pieces of stupid butchery like Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) which, in the interests of commercial viability, reduce the simplicity, originality and charm of their source novels to pure formula."
Trancers (1984)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Thing (1951)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Damned (1961)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
The Terminator (1984)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
THE TOP TEN
King Kong (1933)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Solaris (1972)
The Parasite Murders (1974)/The Brood (1979)/Videodrome
(1982)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Blade Runner (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Strange Invaders (1983)
THE SECOND TEN
Metropolis (1926)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
The Birds (1963)
It's Alive (1973)
Westworld (1973)
God Told Me To! (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Alien (1979)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982)
THE THIRD TEN
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
This Island Earth (1955)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Barbarella (1967)
Je T'Aime Je T'Aime (1967)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Quintet (1979)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
"As you can see, my 'short' list comes to 32 films, so just for the hell of it, I've given you a second ten, and a third ten as well. King Kong is the classic monster movie, and holds up amazingly well. It can still move the watcher to tears. The sf boom of the 1950s was great at the time, but a lot of them have not weathered well, so I include only Forbidden Planet from this period. 2001: A Space Odyssey revolutionized the genre. Solaris is intelligent, mysterious, very beautiful. I cannot separate my three favorite Cronenberg shockers; all are amusing, black, disgusting and say something important about the world in sf imaginery. The Man Who Fell to Earth is a more interesting alien visitor than E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, and almost as cuddly. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a classic fairy tale/obession myth. Blade Runner (whose hero is surely an android too, in the most interesting subtext for years) makes the future come to life like no other movie. The Thing is not only bizarre; it is a faithful adaptation of an sf classic, and is the last word on the horror of loss of identity, and technically brilliant as well."
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Quatermass II (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Superman - The Movie (1978)
Alphaville (1965)
Them! (1954)
Westworld (1973)
The Thing (1951)
Alien (1979)
"Master-craftsmen like Kubrick and Spielberg have made great sf movies but for all their virtuosity, they still for me just lack the edge of those film-makers and writers of the 1950s whose gut instinct occasionally channeled the anxieties of an age. It is doubtful if there can ever again be films of such pure paranoia as my top three. Technically of course they look very rough today, but they still convey a tension that is almost impossible to recreate. And two of them have the additional advantage of the theme of alien possession, which is among the richest of all cinematic metaphors."
Android (1982)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Dark Star (1974)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Not of This Earth (1957)
The Parasite Murders (1974)
"Ten not-quite-arbitrary evocations of pleasure from a genre I still can't define or even always recognize. That they're (almost) sound films from North America - Mad Max 2 travels on a forged passport anyway - is intensely irritating, slightly embarrassing, yet probably obly a few decimal points off representational accuracy. A British entry would have to be chosen from among The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Scream and Scream Again (1969), or The War Game (1965); a vintage Fritz Lang or something like Fassibinder's long-form telemovie Welt Am Draht (1973) might lead the generally more playful European contingent. It's a matter of regret that there's no room for a true creature-feature - either Them! (1954) or a John Sayles-scripted variant would fit the bill - a marginal sci-horror from either Larry Cohen or George Romero, or a plainly daft personal indulgence like Heartbeeps (1981). And it's a matter of total confusion on my part where or not Eraserhead (1976) could be co-opted for sf - if so, regard that list as eleven strong. There's little to add about the ten actually listed: a contemporary bias is obvious; the Cronenberg title stands for most of his fascinating, troubling work; only one film sneaks in for primarily extra-cinematic resonances."
Blade Runner
Forbidden Planet
War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man
The Star Wars Trilogy
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Quatermass Quartet
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both)
Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Runners-up
E.T.
Alien
Them!
Solaris
Metropolis
Innerspace
Mad Max 2
Planet of the Apes
A Clockwork Orange
Village of the Damned
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Thing (from Another World)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire
"My criteria for inclusion? Simply films I like. I made
no efforts to be fair, to include titles from each continent, from each
era. I didn't even try to think of titles that I would want if I were stranded
on a desert island with a videotape player. If I had bent in that direction,
the list would be even longer.
I realize that my top 'ten' list really consists
of 16 movies, and includs one (Quatermass/The Quatermass Conclusion)
that doesn't belong in there. But I see no reason to limit myself to an
arbitrary number - and no good way of getting the fourth Quatermass
film out of there. And because the two Body Snatchers films works
their effects so differently, but each so well, I didn't want to have choose
between them. (I think the Kaufman version is probably a better movie,
but the Siegel version is much more in tune with its time.)
Naturally there are some films that are, by rigid
definition, sf that are not in this list (King Kong, Alien,
Bride of Frankenstein, Cronenberg's The Fly), which
I consider to be outstanding. But that's what the horror list is for, of
course.
SF itself is a very slippery term to define, not
to mention 'best'. If you had asked me in 1956 what the best sf films were,
I would unhestitatingly have named It Came from Beneath the Sea
and Creature with the Atom Brain; at thirteen, those were not just
the best sf movies I had ever seen, but (I thought) the best movies of
any sort. Five years from now, the above list will shift around
too. Perhaps Zontar, the Thing from Venus or Battle Beneath the
Earth are due for re-examination."