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THE
TOP 5
PROJECT

WEEK NO. 23
Main Page (including links to all past Top 5 weeks)

THE TOP 5 SCIENCE FICTION FILMS (REDUX):

view full results       see how points are awarded
Rank Film Points L #1
#1 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) 60 14 10
#2 Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) 52 15 2
#3 Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) 30 7 3
#4 A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) 20 5 3
#5 Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) 18 7 1
L=How many lists each film appears on             #1=How many number one votes each film recieves

Revisiting the very first week of the Top 5 Project (originally presented on June 26, 2005), we take a fresh look on the subject of best science fiction film with the original eight lists and seventeen brand new ones (including a slightly altered version of my own original list).

The winner then was actually a tie between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner. This time around, 2001: A Space Odyssey took it all by itself, 60 points to Blade Runner's 52. Coming in third (a distant third) was Star Wars (the original) with 30 points, followed by A Clockwork Orange with 20 points and Metropolis with 18. Both Brazil and Solaris missed out on the top 5 by just two points each. Incidentally, these are the same five films that topped the first Sci-Fi list, only slightly altered positioning.

This by the way is the first of several redux's we will be doing. Watch for revisits to Best Musical, Revisionist Western and Political Films coming up in the somewhat near future.

Individual lists:

David Sterritt
Chairman, National Society of Film Critics

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

  3. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

  4. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

  5. Quatermass and the Pit (Roy Ward Baker, 1967)



Carrie Rickey
Film Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer

(in alphabetical order)

  • Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)

  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)

  • Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

  • Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)



Jeffrey M. Anderson
Film Critic & Freelance Film Critic
Las Vegas Weekly, Oakland Tribune

  1. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  2. The Thing from Another World (Howard Hawks/Christian Nyby, 1951)

  3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  4. The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986)

  5. Robocop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)

Runners Up:
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001); The Alien Quadrilogy; Dark City (1998); Face/Off (1997); Gattaca (1997); Minority Report (2002); Repo Man (1984); Starman (1984); Star Wars (Episodes III, IV and V); Star Trek (Parts II, IV and VI); Strange Days (1995); They Live (1988); A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Christopher Null
Founder, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Filmcritic.com

  1. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

  2. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

  3. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  4. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)

  5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)



Erik Childress
Film Critic, efilmcritic.com

  1. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982)

  3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)

  4. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

  5. Contact (Robert Zemeckis, 1997)



J.E. Snavely
Home Theatre Cinephile

I missed the very first week of Kevyn's wonderful sight and can finally offer a list for my favorite genre!

So what is science-fiction? Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and countless short stories) defines the genre simply, "Science fiction is really sociological studies of the future, things that the writer believes are going to happen by putting two and two together." Philip K Dick explains further and in more detail:

I will define science fiction, first, by saying what SF is not. It cannot be defined as " a story (or novel or play) set in the future," since there exists such a thing as space adventures, which is set in the future but is not SF. It is just that: adventure, fights, and wars in the future in space involving super-advanced technology. Why, then, is it not science fiction? It would seem to be, and Doris Lessing (e.g.) supposes that it is. However, space adventure lacks the distinct new idea that is the essential ingredient. Also, there can be science fiction set in the present: the alternate-world story or novel. So if we separate SF from the future and also from ultra-advanced technology, what then do we have that can be called SF? We have a fictitious world; that is the first step: It is a society that does not in fact exist, but is predicated on our known society-that is, our known society acts as a jumping-off point for it; the society advances out of our own in some way, perhaps orthogonally, as with the alternate-world story or novel. It is our own world dislocated by some kind of mental effort on the part of the author, our world transformed into that which it is not or not yet. This world must differ from the given in at least one way, and this one way must be sufficient to give rise to events that could not occur in our society-or in any known society present or past. There must be a coherent idea involved in this dislocation: that is, the dislocation must be a conceptual one, not merely a trivial or a bizarre one-this is the essence of science fiction, the conceptual dislocation within the society so that as a result a new society is generated in the author's mind, transferred to paper, and from paper it occurs as a convulsive shock in the reader's mind, the shock of dysrecognition. He knows that it is not his actual world that he is reading about.

-(From his 1981 essay "What is Science Fiction" published in THE SHIFTING REALITIES OF PHILIP K DICK by Vintage Books)

I grew up watching science fiction television shows and movies with my mother; sometimes we'd stay up until 11PM on a Friday or hurry home on Saturday afternoon to make Dr. Shock Theatre. Other times, we'd go to Wednesday matinees for a dollar (yes! ONE FUCKING DOLLAR!) to see the latest and sometimes not-so-greatest science fiction releases. That was in the early-to-mid-seventies before Star Wars hit big and there was actually some acceptable science fiction films; after the Lucas epic almost all SF was reduced to formulaic copies. Science Fiction should not be a pulp genre, disposable entertainment for the LCD but Star Wars, Star Trek, and countless imitations that have relegated other important thought provoking films to the nadir of the cinematic hierarchy.

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

  3. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  4. The Day The Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)

  5. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

Others:
A Boy And His Dog (L.Q. Jones, 1975), Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001), Fahrenheit 451 (Francios Truffaut, 1966), Gojira (Ishiro Honda, 1954), The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold, 1957), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956), The Man Who Fell To Earth (Nicolas Roeg, 1976), Planet Of The Apes (Franklin Schaffner, 1968), Primer (Shane Carruth, 2004), Quatermass And The Pit/Five Million Years To Earth (Roy Ward Baker, 1967), Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984), Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull, 1972), Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973), Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979), The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984), The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982), The Thing From Another World (Christian Nyby, 1951), Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer, 1979), Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam, 1981), The Time Machine (George Pal, 1960), Village Of The Damned (Wolf Rilla, 1960), War Of The Worlds (Byron Haskin, 1953).

Peter Sobczynski
Film Critic, eFilmCritic.com

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)

  4. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)

  5. The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997)



Film Prophet
Film Critic, FilmProphet.com

  1. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)

  2. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

  3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)

  4. Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

  5. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)



Michael Parent
Film Student

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  3. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1984)

  4. Solaris (Andrei Tarklovsky, 1972)

  5. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

Runners-Up:
Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard), Dark City (Alex Proyas), 1984 (Michael Radford), A.I. (Steven Spielberg), Close Encounters From The Third Kind (S. Spielberg), Slaughterhouse-Five (George Roy Hill), Fahrenheit 451 (Francois Truffaut), Robocop (Paul Verhoeven), Back To The Future Trilogy (Robert Zemeckis)

Adam Trovillion
Film Enthusiast

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Stalker (Andrei Tarklovsky, 1979)

  3. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  4. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

  5. Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)



Jeff Cardarelli
Film Enthusiast

  1. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

  2. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

  3. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

  4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  5. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)



Kevin Cassidy
Film Enthusiast

  1. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

  2. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)

  3. City of Lost Children (Marc Caro/Jean-Pierre Jenuet, 1995)

  4. Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)

  5. Delicatessen (Marc Caro/Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1991)



Billy Wilson
Film Enthusiast

  1. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

  2. The Matrix (The Wachowski Bros., 1999)

  3. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

  4. Close Encounters with the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)

  5. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)



Mathew Viola
Film Fanatic

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) - Eschewing conventional storytelling techniques, Kubrick’s mystical tale of humankind’s evolution from primitive ape-man to angelic Star-Child employs an elliptical, ambiguous approach to the narrative, which profoundly deepens the enigmatic, mysterious power of this visually and aurally stunning sci-fi masterpiece. Remarkably, the farther Kubrick’s spaceships traverse the far-flung expanses of deep space, the deeper the film penetrates the equally mysterious recesses of the mind. It’s truly an odyssey through both outer and inner space, ultimately leading to a mind-blowing climax in which the infinitude of space and the consciousness of Man seemingly become indistinguishable

  2. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) - Blade Runner’s striking futuristic “retro-deco” sets, noirish atmospherics, hypnotic electronic score, and heady philosophical concerns (asking no less than what it means to be human) combine to create the only sci-fi film that rivals 2001 in both visual power and intellectual sophistication.

  3. The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold, 1957) - Like many of the best science fiction movies, The Incredible Shrinking Man lends itself to various interpretations. Is it, like Cronenberg’s The Fly, a metaphor for the ravaging effects of disease on the body? A cautionary tale about the dangers of atomic research? A celebration of human intelligence and ingenuity? An existential meditation on man’s (in)significance in the universe? In any case, it remains a superior example of ‘50s sci-fi, a nightmarish vision of alienation in which the once familiar, comforting security of “home” turns, for one unlucky man, into a vast, deadly arena where previously harmless things like the family cat, a basement spider or even a drop of water become menacing threats to his very existence.

  4. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984) - Working from a nifty time-travel premise, Cameron delivers one of the great pure action flicks, a relentless, thoroughly exciting thriller, with Arnie perfectly cast as the unstoppable, physically imposing killing machine. Michael Biehn deserves a special nod, especially for the scene in which he explains the situation to Hamilton. In other hands, this bit of exposition may have seemed awkward, if not downright risible, but Biehn’s utterly convincing playing makes it compellingly believable.

  5. Them! (Gordon Douglas, 1954) - Far better than its campy reputation would suggest, this classic effortlessly transcends its B movie limitations through effectively restrained direction, sharp, knowing writing and fine acting. Happily, the colossal mutant ants, a nightmarish embodiment of the era’s paranoid fear of nuclear power, are defeated in the end. But beware! Given the current state of global affairs, it may not be too long before those giANT insects rear their nasty heads once more and start wreaking havoc yet again.

Honorable mentions:
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927), The Invisible Man (James Whale, 1933), The Thing From Another World (Chritian Nyby, 1951), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (Gene Fowler, Jr., 1958), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961), Alphaville (Jean Luc Godard, 1965), Colossus: The Forbin Project (Joseph Sargent, 1970), A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971), Sleeper (Woody Allen, 1973), Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979), The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980), The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981), Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1986), The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986), Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001).

Doug Pratt
DVD Critic, DVDLaser.com

  1. 2001 A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

  3. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

  4. Stargate (Roland Emmerich, 1994)

  5. Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)



Kevyn Knox
Film Critic, Essayist + Historian

My "new" list does not differentiate much from my original a year-and-a-half ago. 2001, Solaris, Blade Runner, Alphaville and Metropolis (with Stalker coming in sixth). Four of the five films are still there (and the sixth place film is the replacement). Not much else to be said other than here are my current Top 5:

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

  2. Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

  3. Alphaville (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)

  4. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)

  5. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

A Pair of Runners-Up that need to be mentioned:
Le Voyage dans la lune (Georges Méliès, 1902) and La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

Plus, the original lists:

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!"

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?

Carter Liotta
The Doctor of Cinema

The top five Sci Fi films, in my mind:

  1. 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?

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

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.

Todd J. Shill
Attorney-at-Law
and co-founder & director of the Harrisburg Film Festival

  1. Westworld - my ALL TIME favorite. i still contend that yul brenner's black-eyed gunslinger was the scariest movie character ever.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. A Clockwork Orange - still haunting. i cannot hear "singing in the rain" without thinking of this film. great soundtrack.

  5. 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.


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


Charles Spitzig
Computer Genius and Sc-Fi/Fantasy/Cyberpunk Expert

ed. note: the top 2 get special mention, according to Mr. Spitzig

  1. A Clockwork Orange

  2. Blade Runner

  3. Pi

  4. 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)

  5. 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.


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


*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 Horror Films

e-mail me at kevynknox@thecinematheque.com with your picks for week #24,
no later than 6pm on Sunday, Oct 29, 2006.

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