The MoFo Top 100 Sci-Fi Films: Countdown

I was just thinking (it's something I occasionally like to try); we're now 42 films into the list and we've still not had a single entry from the Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, Mad Max, Terminator or Planet of the Apes franchises. In fact the only big sci-fi franchise that's been represented I think has been Back to the Future. I'm guessing that means that none of the lesser entries of those franchises are going to make it. Had something like a Phantom Menace, Terminator 3 or Alien 3 been going to sneak in I think it would have been in the very early spots.

Also how are people's predictions holding up in terms of how many of their films would make it? A week or two back I thought there was one film that no chance and another 3 or 4 I was unsure of. However given some of the big, popular films that have now shown up (Guardians of the Galaxy, District 9, Men in Black, The Martian etc) I'm becoming less optimistic. I now think there are at least 3 films, possibly 4, that definitely won't feature

Anyway for our next two films I'm going to guess at Independence Day and Dark City.

You are vile.

Hope Prometheus doesn't make it. It was basically shite.

What about sci-fi comedies?

They should start popping up, but it's interesting to think what's Top 100 worthy from those franchises

What about sci-fi comedies?
We've had a couple cartoons already and we know Back to the Future will show up (since III already did). We've had Galaxy Quest and MIB.

How about:
Sleeper
Darkstar
Inner Space
My Stepmother is an alien
Coneheads
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Spaced Invaders
Earth Girls Are Easy
Mars Attacks
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Meet Dave
Weird Science
Idiocracy

Before the list started I'd have said that Star Trek had four decent shouts; Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, First Contact, Star Trek (2009) and possibly Star Trek Into Darkness as well. As we close in on the top 50 though I'm thinking that Voyage Home, First Contact and Into Darkness are all out. Even 2009's reboot I'm starting to doubt. I think you're right on the films that will still make it from the Star Wars (4), Planet of the Apes (3) and Terminator (2) franchises.

I've not seen Prometheus myself but I imagine there seems to be a fair amount of apathy towards it that will see it miss out now. I also feel that Beyond Thunderdome is out now, with people prioritising the The Road Warrior and Fury Road over it.



Of those you listed, before the list started I'd have said that Bill & Ted and Sleeper would have made it, with decent outside shots for Mars Attacks and Innerspace. Given how deep into the list we're getting now however I'm not sure about any of them. I'm certainly rooting against Sleeper making it; detested that film!

I do think that Ghostbusters will make it though. While many people would have dismissed it as being more horror/supernatural I think enough people will still have put it on their lists. And with a fair number of Pegg/Frost fans on here I'd have said that both The World's End and Paul had a chance. At this stage however I'm again unsure

Why any Trek fans blindly accept it is beyond me.
"Oh, it's just an alternate, concurrent, splinter reality where everything is the same but different so that a modern demographic of Smart-Phone addicted tweens can get off on the Uhura - Spock love affair, you need to accept it!" FAH! All it is is Abrams putting his damn mustache on the Mona-Lisa and using a permanent marker to do it!

Before the list started I'd have said that Star Trek had four decent shouts; Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, First Contact, Star Trek (2009) and possibly Star Trek Into Darkness as well. As we close in on the top 50 though I'm thinking that Voyage Home, First Contact and Into Darkness are all out. Even 2009's reboot I'm starting to doubt.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978)

Thirty years ago when I saw this on the humongous Big Newport screen, I just wasn't impressed. I'm not sure what my problem was. I was never that big a fan of the original, true, but I was having a hard time empathisizing any more with the lead characters than I did with the pod people. Three decades and several viewings later, I can safely say I was full of it back then. This film may actually qualify to me as the ultimate paranoid thriller. Everything is in place. The shiny photography, the dark shadows, the killer sound effects, the scary music (actually, I'd probably tone down some of the music because it's the quietest parts which are the scariest). I like the performances and the black humor, as well as just the weird touches, like Robert Duvall's "priest" swinging in a children's playground.

To me, this is Kaufman's first full-blown success, and if he was ahead of me in the power curve, at least I could see it just a short while later. I thought he went even more into paranoia and dark comedy with his next film, The Wanderers, but that's for another post. This film is pretty-much textbook, as far as basically showing you what's happening, then slowly allowing only one character (Brooke Adams) to know about it. Nobody believes her, but eventually a group of three others (Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright) are forced to believe her because they cannot deny their own eyes, no matter how much pop psychiatrist Leonard Nimoy tries to rationalize away everything "paranoid". That's enough for now, but be sure to watch for Sutherland's friend's dog near the end.