The MoFo Top 100 Sci-Fi Films: Countdown

I think you can forget about Sleeper, Soylent Green, and A Boy and His Dog. I'm a little worried about Total Recall but I'd be surprised if it missed the countdown altogether. I also have doubts about The Force Awakens making it.

This list started to lose me a bit, which I figured would happen. If I had made a list Brazil, Ex-Machina, and Moon would have all made it. Great stuff coming.

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Two more from my list. I had Ex Machina at #15 and Moon at #22. I'll find what i posted about them later as i'm going out in a minute.

My List:

13.Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
14.Videodrome
15.Ex Machina
16.Wreck-It Ralph
18.The Day The Earth Stood Still
21.Mad Max: Fury Road
22.Moon

Two from my list have shown up. I had Brazil at #5, one of the finest examples of satire you'll ever find. And as absurd as the film often is, it feels like it's not that far from reality. And I love the Robert De Niro character. (I did struggle a little bit with where to place this on my list, as I see it first as a satire that happens to be science fiction, as opposed to science fiction first that is saying something satirical, if that makes any sense. It was the same struggle I had with another film which will be showing up on the countdown later on.)

The other film I had was Moon at #17. What an amazing surprise Moon was when it came out, a smart, exciting new science fiction movie, with a mystery that turns out to be more interesting than what you were imagining. Sam Rockwell gives a career-defining performance.


My List:

3. Metropolis (#36)
5. Brazil (#32)
6. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (#46)
9. World on a Wire (#73)
11. Forbidden Planet (#38)
17. Moon (#29)
22. Logan’s Run (#71)
25. Ghost in the Shell (#64)

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I voted for Ex Machina, but not Moon. I had meant to rewatch Moon for the Countdown (when I saw it previously I just thought it was okay), but didn't get around to it. I do still plan to rewatch it though.

Seen: 61/72
My List: 15

01. Dredd (2012) - #96
02. Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - #66
03. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - #35
04. The Martian (2015) - #60
...
08. Metropolis (1927) - #36
09. Galaxy Quest (1999) - #88
10. Brazil (1985) - #32
11. Dark City (1998) - #48
...
16. Videodrome (1983) - #53
18. Forbidden Planet (1956) - #38
19. Arrival (2016) - #33
21. The Road Warrior (1981) - #31
22. Strange Days (1995) - #81
23. Ex Machina (2015) - #30
25. Primer (2004) - #44

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Well I cut Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Iron Man, Stalker, Solaris, Her, Things to Come and Eternal Sunshine on a Spotless mind from my top fifty prediction so what do you figure are the four/five movies that made the top thirty?

I'm not sure, this is a hard countdown to predict due to differing opinions on what should count. I would think Stalker, Solaris, Her, and Eternal Sunshine would make it. Maybe Dr. Strangelove or A.I.? Idk.

AI making the top thirty would be a joke, Prometheus is more deserving.

Stalker and Solaris are both great but we haven't seen a foreign Sci-Fi film for quite a while

Dr. Strangelove is that Sci Fi?

Her was my last cut so I could see that slipping in. Alphaville should be in the mix but it didn't show up before so I doubt it'll place in the top thirty. The Man who Fell to Earth, Lifeforce, and This Quiet Earth but they seem to old.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, and THX are other possibilities, but those should have been out early.

The hell you say. A.I. isn't top 30 material, but worse than Prometheus? Not really.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I don't think of Strangelove as Sci-Fi but it's on the other list and is a huge name. I think it's more likely to show then some of those others. Forget THX, Man Who Fell to Earth, Lifeforce, and This Quiet Earth. I thought The Mist would make it but not anymore.

Arrival is way too new to be this high. Ex Machina too, but I have more of an issue with Arrival. Not enough to be butt hurt over it though.


Never seen Brazil.


[b]Moon[b] I had at #18. A solid sci/fi film with a low budge that thrives on mood and performance. Rockwell delivers a one man show performance that I would say carries the film, if the film didn't need carrying. Duncan Jones makes a strong debut here and has gone on to continue in the genre, but never really matched his efforts here. Just enough mystery and sinister undertone to engage the viewer on more levels.


The 5th Element I had at #15. Lesson paints us a colourful cartoonish future. A fun and entertaining sic/fi adventure flick with a comically villainous performance from Oldman and a typical performance from Willis. Tucker gives an even more cartoonish performance that walks the line of hilarious and annoying. I've watched this film many times and each time I enjoy it and have lots of fun. Well placed.

#1: Dark City
#7: Minority Report
#9: District 9
#15: The 5th Element
#16: Ghostbusters
#17: Avatar
#18: Moon
#19: Serenity
#20: Interstellar
#21: Donnie Darko
#25: Edge of Tomorrow

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Suspect's Reviews

This is what I think will be the 28 films still to come and I've bolded those that I think will make up the top 10. I had Stalker in there but cut it and then I'm really not sure about both Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I thought at least one of them would be 100% certain to make the list but I'm not sure they make the top 28. If either was to make it I'd guess that The Force Awakens was the likeliest to miss out but I don't see it.

2001: A Space Odyssey
12 Monkeys
Alien
Aliens
Back to the Future
Blade Runner
Children of Men
Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
E.T.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fly
Her
Inception
Jurassic Park
Matrix
Planet of the Apes
Predator
Robocop
Solaris (1972)
Star Wars
Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars - Force Awakens
Terminator
Terminator 2
The Thing
Total Recall
Wall-e

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I like Ex Machina, a lot. Another thoughtful movie that doesn't need to be too tech savvy. We know the risk while watching, but we can't help falling to the trap as the protagonist did.

Moon, haven't seen it.

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I haven't seen either of these.

I had The Road Warrior at #12. Awesome movie.

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I'd lawf so much if Episode VII takes top spot.

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Moon...is my idea of an intelligent, well made and though provoking sci-fi. Arrival wishes it could be half the movie that Moon is

Ex Machina...this is an excerpt of what I wrote about it.

Ex Machina is not at all a sci-fi film in the typical sense. Oh sure that poster looks as sci fi as you can get but the film's focus is on drama, mystery and even romance....It focuses on three individuals who are alone in a remote country setting. But beyond that this is an existential film that explores what it means to be a human and and what it means to be sentient. A story about when is it wrong to treat a creation as property.

The film requires that the viewer cares about the A.I. creation 'Ava' and feels for her plight. If you only view her as an 'it', or as a machine then the movie failed. But I bet anyone who watches this will care about Ava and view her as alive. I did

Ex Machina is an intimately shot, Indie film. It takes a close up look at three people with a minimum of outside influences. This allows the film to focus on the implications of creating a sentient A.I. machine.

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Very disappointed to see Moon this high. Lower on the list - okay. But not the highest film so far!

A bunch of great flicks in a row. The Road Warrior is a classic, Brazil is a tremendous achievement, and I adore Ex Machina and Moon. I have already raved enough about Arrival, so I won't do so again. I should have placed Arrival a bit higher on my list, though.

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I didn't care for Ex-Machina when I watched it. I was a bit unsure what the idea was. Was it for me [as a viewer] to care about the machine? Was it for me to care about the maker? The other bloke? I find it a movie without an "honest" story telling in the sense that it has a plan that ends up being rubbed in the nose. The plan being "see, the machine is like you. Love her".

But it would fail for the creator if he designed the machine to be an ugly midget.

The "possible love story" is way too distracting from the prime thesis.

A movie I find had a better "AI vs human" dychotomy [and an excelent resolve for all the characters] was Automata. Even though it has glaring issues [it's way too reliant on Blade Runner to begin with], the entire movie is focused on the emergent nature of the AI as a natural leap in evolution for both Man and Machine.

The machines are also identified as one; but with the extra of its own need for [natural] survival. This - to me - was essential for the storytelling and the way it was presented [in the 3rd act - via the dialogue of the AI with the characters] gave it a deeper motif.

It's the way it was done, I think.

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