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THE TOP 5 SCIENCE FICTION FILMS:
view full results see how points are awarded
| rank |
film |
points |
(#1's) |
lists |
| #1 |
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA) |
19 |
(3) |
4 lists |
| tie |
Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott, UK) |
19 |
(-) |
6 lists |
| #3 |
A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA) |
15 |
(2) |
4 lists |
| #4 |
Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang, Germany) |
11 |
(-) |
5 lists |
| #5 |
Star Wars (1977, George Lucas, USA) |
9 |
(1) |
2 lists |
L=How many lists each film appears on
#1=How many number one votes each film recieves
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Stanley Kubrick's seminal head trip film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, nearly eked out the competition in the inaugural running of The Cinematheque Top 5 Project, but some last minute surprise voting took away its top standing and gave Blade Runner, the neo tech-noir cult favourite from Ridley Scott an eleventh hour surge, that ended up putting the two films into a tie for first place. Overall, it was a rather disappointing first outing for The Top 5 Project, as we only recieved 8 lists (9 including my own), but still we managed to compile an overall Top 5, which was rounded out by Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, at number 3, Fritz Lang's 1927 silent classic, Metropolis in 4th place and George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy in 5th. Star Wars, which recieved one vote for itself and a second vote for the entire first trilogy, garnered only 2 mentions, while 2001 and A Clockwork Orange, both Kubrick films, were present on 4 lists each and Metropolis was listed on 5 lists. Only Blade Runner was on more lists, with 6 mentions. There were also votes for Solaris (the original Russian version, not the Soderbergh/Clooney retread), Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451, Godard's neo-noir Alphaville, The Matrix, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, David Lynch's Dune, Westworld, Planet of the Apes, Tron, Rollerball, Cronenberg's eXistenZ, Arenofsky's pi, Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., as well as both the first and second 
Alien films. The lone Trek film to make a showing, was a lone vote for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. Also grabbing votes was Chris Marker's short La Jetée, which was the inspiration for Gilliam's 12 Monkeys, which also had one mention. There were also a few surprises that popped up, including the seventies mutant killer animals films Bug and The Food of the Gods, as well as the original 1971 version of Willy Wonka. But even more surprising were the films that did not make the list, such as Georges Méliès' brilliantly elaborate 1902 short film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon), fifties "classics" like The Day the Earth Stood Still and/or Forbidden Planet. There was also no mention of the more modern big budget Hollywooders such as Independance Day or Men in Black, nor was there any mention of the newer Star Wars films (not that there should have been). Well, that's about it for week #1 of The Top 5 Project - next week's topic is The Top 5 Political Films. e-mail me at kevynknox@thecinematheque.com with your picks for week #2, no later than 6pm on Sunday, July 3rd. Hopefully we can get more than 8 lists this time around. Look below for the individual lists, as well as the commentary on their picks.
see how points are awarded
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Individual lists:
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Albert H. Muth
Cinephile and five-time Oscar-contest champion
1. 2001
2. Blade Runner
3. Alien
4. Solaris
5. Metropolis
"Predictable, I guess, but there can be no arguments!"
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Sherry Messimer
Cinephile & Europhile extraordinaire
My 5 fav sci-fi are (you will see that my comments are more on an intellectual level)... aka: the philosophy of sci-fi film:
Fahrenheit 451 (1966, Truffaut) Great futuristic film that makes us take a closer look at individual freedom. Vive la difference!
Blade Runner (1982, Scott) Androids vs. Humans: Can we tell the difference? What makes a human being human? And do we, like the androids, rage against our creator for making our lives "finite"? Does our mortality drive us to find meaning?
Alphaville (1965, Godard) Man vs. Computer. Another film that investigates personal freedom in an "organized" society.
ExistenZ (1999, Cronenberg) Thinking man's version of "The Matrix". I think this film holds together much better on an intellectual level... poses the question: "What is real?" With this film, you are never quite sure.
Metropolis (1927, Lang) The grandaddy of them all. This is like a sci-fi version of Plato's Republic. Some people are "Thinkers" and some are "Workers"... what happens when someone decides to take on the system?
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Carter Liotta
The Doctor of Cinema
The top five Sci Fi films, in my mind:
THE STAR WARS TRILOGY - It's cliche to list any
Star Wars movie as number one, but failure to do so
denies the obvious. The number of people who like
"Blade Runner" and "2001" combined don't equal the fan
base of possibly the most popular franchise in Sci-Fi
history. Rightfully so - though episodes I-III can be
discounted, who could imagine a world without the
Death Star, lightsabers, and the ice planet of Hoth?
STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN - The finest
representative of the whole Trek franchise, who can
forget Bill Shatner OR Ricardo Montalban's
award-winning acting, the death of Mr. Spock, or Lt.
Uhura's hair. Strangely, for a movie that's 23 years
old, it still escapes being dated, overall.
METROPOLIS - Fritz Lang's creepy world of men
laboring endlessly at strange machines, a robotic
"false Maria", and a mad scientist that set the
standard with his neon laboratory for all mad
scientists to come, features some awesome special
effects for the 1920's, and interesting social
commentary that's still valid today.
THE MATRIX - Special effects notwithstanding, what
a great concept. It's a shame that the sequels didn't
carry the original further, and ultimately destroyed
the franchise.
ALIENS - Never mind the first, boring Ridley Scott
installment that met critical acclaim for being
"brooding" and "deathly silent" - James Cameron's
fast-paced intergalactic shoot-'em-up was the most fun
the franchise ever offered.
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Gregory Woods
Contractor to the stars
In no particular order:
A Clockwork Orange
Blade Runner
12 Monkeys (only because it was a poor remake of La Jetée)
Which brings me to
La Jetée (cuz it really makes you think of the cinematic possibilities of minimalism)
I know that’s only four, and that’s all yer getting.
Well, okay. I hafta add this, cuz it’s so sappy, E.T.
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Todd J. Shill
Attorney-at-Law
and co-founder & director of the Harrisburg Film Festival
Westworld - my ALL TIME favorite. i still contend that yul brenner's black-eyed gunslinger was the scariest movie character ever.
Rollerball (1975 version) - too cool. was sorry they remade it because there is no way to beat jimmy caan and john houseman. inspired me as a kid to play "rollerball" in my friends' backyards with basketballs, trashcans, and street hockey shin guards.
Planet of the Apes (1968 Version) - i was so into this as a kid ... had
action figures, dressed like cornelius for halloweeen. what a movie. even today, the makeup they used cannot be beat. even tim burton's apes were
not as convincing. plus, how can you top charleton heston's over the top
histrionics.
A Clockwork Orange - still haunting. i cannot hear "singing in the rain" without thinking of this film. great soundtrack.
Bug (1975) - still one of the creepiest/cheesiest films ever. i know they could rub their legs together and start fires, but i am still not completely sure how the bugs killed people. for some reason, these cheesy sci-fi/horror films in the 70's seemed more believable than those today. i think it could be the moustaches and clothes.
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Jon Gaige
aka: Parisian Jon, Bohemian Artist
1. A Clockwork Orange
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. Metropolis
4. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
5. Brazil
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Charles Spitzig
Computer Genius and Sc-Fi/Fantasy/Cyberpunk Expert
ed. note: the top 2 get special mention, according to Mr. Spitzig
A Clockwork Orange
Blade Runner
Pi
Food of the Gods (really bad movie. I laughed harder at this than Plan 9 From Outer Space, although I didn't laugh as many times)
Dune Most people think it sucked. It had it problems, like the silly Wierding modules, and irritating changes in ages. But, I saw the movie first, so I wasn't that upset at first.
Liked it enough to read it.
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Herbert R. Wolfe II
aka: The All-Knowing Biffster, International Playboy
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Star Wars
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Blade Runner
5. Tron
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Kevyn Knox
Cinephile, Film Critic & Film Historian (as well as webmaster of this site)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA): A head-dicing, soul-tripping ziggerut of a film, full of existential melancholy, auteuristic bruvara and a quietude of philosophical aplomb - not to mention, all those damned stars.
Solaris (1972, Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR): A very close second place finish, Solaris is a rictus of Freudian nightmares and psycho-socialogical dreams-come-true. Tarkovsky's masterpiece is awash with both the beautifully minimalist imagery of an artist and the Descartian mindplay of a philosopher.
Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott, USA): As the short story source says, "Do androids dream of electric sheep?". A brooding look at what it really means to be created, whether you are a replicant built by a scientific genius or a human being created by some all-elusive mysterious diety.
Alphaville (1965, Jean Luc Godard, France): A visually harrowing, harshly lit, buzzing futuristic Noir, from the Nouvelle Vague voice of the quasi-beatific man who helped turn Cinema on its head (and ass).
Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang, Germany): Perhaps not the first science fiction film ever made, but still the original Sturm und drang Expressionist masterpiece that influenced so many future films, with its Orwellian (before there even was an Orwell) drumbeat of a heart, pounding away like the huddled and herded Proletariat of the film.
film I felt most saddened about leaving off my list (aka, a very close #6): Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979)
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*points are given as follows: for numbered lists, first place recieves 5 points, second place recieves 4, third place 3, fourth place 2 and fifth place gets 1 point; for unumbered lists, each film will recieve 3 points; total points are then tallied up and a comprehensive Top 5 list is created
The Next Topic is:
Name The Top 5 POLITICAL FILMS
e-mail me at
kevynknox@thecinematheque.com
with your picks for week #9,
no later than 6pm on Sunday, July 3rd.
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