EW's Top 25 Sci-Fi of the last 25 years

[SurfD]

bah, my reading comprehention sucks.  Somehow managed to miss the "last 25 years" bit

[Megrim]

There is no Fifth Element on that list, and Matrix is higher than Bladerunner. pshaw.

Yea, somebody somewhere else mentioned 12 Monkeys which made me think of Bruce Willis which then let to Fifth Element. I loved that movie, but given this list I can kinda understand it's absence. Aside from the tech being used in the movie, it was a fairly standard reluctant-hero plot with a lot of support roles to add comedy and definition of that time-period.

Oh it unmistakedly is, but given some of the works listed, in my head i can quite easily substitute it for a few on that list. ET, Lost (come on now...) and Futurama come to mind. This is without mentioning some of the films people have brought up so far; Gattaca, Dark City, etc... nevermind the fact that as you rightly mentioned, 12 Monkeys should probably take the place of Fifth Element, as far as Bruce Willis mania goes.

Just goes to show that the haute couture of geekdom is getting progessively worse. Grrr.. ><

[WindupAtheist]

I'm pretty sure WUA meant the television series "V" and not Empire Strikes Back.  I'm inclined to agree with him, V was a silly soap opera wrapped in alien invasion clothing.

What he said.  Piss on my beloved Sith if you must, but don't deride it and then turn around and, in the same breath, tell me that Marc Singer fighting lizard people was awesome.

And fuck Starship Troopers too.  Yeah Verhoeven, I "get" what you were doing.  I just thought it sucked.

[Furiously]

They Live (Also a Carpenter film) really should be on that list. (Like one up from The Thing.)

[Bunk]

A few thoughts before reading the thread - Galaxy Quest should be higher, Children of Men should be lower (hated the last quarter - ruined a great movie), Lost is too high (as are it's writers), I'd flip 1 and 3, suprised to not see Minority Report. Big love for seeing Brazil up there. 12 Monkeys is missing.

[Bunk]

Yea, and after reading the thread I missed some obvious omissions like Farscape. I'd probably also bump B5 in there. If you are going to throw anime in to the mix, where's Akira? Or hell, even Beebop.

[murdoc]

That list sucks.

Quoted for truth.

[HaemishM]

My take:

21. Futurama (I don't much care for the Simpsons either)

On crack.

20. Star Wars Clone Wars animated series (seriously, this rocks, and I say that unbiasedly. If the latter movies were 1/10th as good, we'd not worry for the new generation of SW fans)

SERIOUSLY ON CRACK. While it was better than the current crop of SW movies, so was my morning bowel movement. As in, I shit better story than any Star Wars delivered since Empire.

19. Starship Troopers movie

Better than Doctor Who? WHAT THE FUCK? While it was fun, this movie was not better than any Doctor Who episode ever, special effects included.

18. Heroes

Fuck yeah, should be higher.

17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

NOT FUCKING SCIENCE FICTION. More like existential angst, with science as a plot device. What a bunch of retards. Yes, the movie was decent but better than Heroes? Fuck no.

15. Firefly/Serenity

Should be much much higher.

12. Back to the Future

A comedy with science fiction as the plot device. Shouldn't be on this list. It's a goofy, heavy-handed sappy movie that is vastly overrated.

8. Star Trek: TNG series

No, goddamnit. Trek fans need to die of a wasting crotchrot disease. Fuck a Trek fan. The first series and DS9 were the only things ever worth watching more than once. TNG's milquetoast PC correctness bullshit needs to explode in a fiery ball. If you have to put a Sci-fi series on this list, PUT BABYLON 5 you fuckwads.

7. E.T.

Sappy, gut-wrenching alien drama. Fuck an E.T.

4. X-Files (makes sense. Mainstream sci-fi ftw)

Should be lower than Serenity/Firefly, because the last 5 seasons SUCKED MONKEY ASS.

2. Battlestar Galactica

Not after this last season.

1. The Matrix

Oh FUCK no. No. NO NO NO. Even if I could wash the stench of the last two movies away, it does not deserve to be above Heroes, Babylon 5, Serenity, Blade Runner, or other movies on a list of this type. And you can't dissociate the last two movies from it anyway, because it leads into them. The Matrix Trilogy was fucking awful. It only goes down as being better than the worst of the worst because of how good the first movie was, but it in no fucking way is worth #1 on a list of this type.

Fuck assclowns.

[WayAbvPar]

Can someone please clue me in on what was so brilliant about Brazil? I hated it so much that I avoid anything involving Terry Gilliam like the fucking plague.

[Merusk]

Can someone please clue me in on what was so brilliant about Brazil? I hated it so much that I avoid anything involving Terry Gilliam like the fucking plague.

How old and jaded were you when you watched it?  My first viewing I was 18 and didn't like it at all.  My second viewing I was 25 and I got into it a lot more. I imagine after 8 more years of real-life beat-down I'd find it even more relevant and interesting.

[WayAbvPar]

Can someone please clue me in on what was so brilliant about Brazil? I hated it so much that I avoid anything involving Terry Gilliam like the fucking plague.

How old and jaded were you when you watched it?  My first viewing I was 18 and didn't like it at all.  My second viewing I was 25 and I got into it a lot more. I imagine after 8 more years of real-life beat-down I'd find it even more relevant and interesting.

It has been quite a long time since I saw it...at least 10 years. I just can't remember anything that would make me want to give it another go.

[HaemishM]

Watch it again. You have to be really fucking cynical. There's a number of things about Brazil that are the awesome and a number have to do with when it was done.

It's over 2 hours long, which at the time was unheard of. Gilliam and the studio had many fights over its release.

It's like the Wall, only without the music and a more coherent story.

Robert Deniro. He was fucking awesome in this.

Dystopian future mixed with Gilliam's hallucinatory vision. In the 80's on a shitty budget no less, and without CGI.

It was the 80's Clockwork Orange.

I'd watch it again and if you still hate it, fair enough.

[Lantyssa]

Which version of Brazil did you watch?  There's three or so and it makes a big difference in which you see.

[angry.bob]

(John Doe) 

Fuck John Doe. It was boring retread generic action/detective shit that didn't even have a veneer of sci-fi on it unless they added it halfway through the show's run. The sci-fi part was what, he saw in black and white and had no memory? Moonlighting was more sci-fi and it was at least watchable.

And to compound it's sins, it's the show Fox cancelled Firefly to put on.

[schild]

Which version of Brazil did you watch?  There's three or so and it makes a big difference in which you see.

Let's be honest. Even the "Love Conquers All" version is better than half the shit on that list. And it's only 90 minutes long and missing a decent deal of shit. :P

[kaid]

I like brazil but thats deffinatly a movie you have to watch when  you are in the mood for it. If you watch that when you are not ready to just sit back and absorb it you will probably walk away confused and or disliking it.

[Lantyssa]

Fair point, Schild.

[Bunk]

Which version of Brazil did you watch?  There's three or so and it makes a big difference in which you see.

The long version with the (more) depressing ending is the one that it should be judged by.

[schild]

Well yea, but it doesn't mean other versions are bad.

[lariac]

It's a pretty good list. Some should be higher up than others.

But it definitely is missing a few..

The Abyss - Probably one of the best Sci-Fi movies (even though it's under the ocean) ever.

Heavy Metal - This goes without saying

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - I always remember Dreyfuss making Devil's Tower out of his mash potatoes. I still do this to this day.


Edit: Damn Heavy Metal came out in 1981 and CE3k came out in 1977. Oh well.

[Selby]

The Abyss - Probably one of the best Sci-Fi movies (even though it's under the ocean) ever.

I watched the director's cut of this and all of the commentary\documentaries throughout it based on the original theatrical version (a friend in college was a major freak for this movie and loaned me his copy) and all I have to say is, damn.  While he gives us crap like Titanic, James Cameron can really turn out an interesting movie.

I hated most of the list.  It takes a really special "sci-fi" setting for me to get into it, and most of that list just ain't got it.

[Ironwood]

I thought Brazil stunk.

But I don't expect it to be a popular view.

[Venkman]

Duh, forgot The Abyss too. I'd guess it didn't make the list because the lobotomized version that made it to theatres. The ending was just terrible, way at odds with the movie.

Going to rent Brazil. Never saw it. Fresh eyes and all.

[Engels]

I don't like the arbitrary 25 year cut off date; too many good films were made in the 70s that would kick namby pamby flicks like "Children of Men" off the list.

[schild]

I didn't find anything "namby pamby" about Children of Men.

[Furiously]

The Abyss - Probably one of the best Sci-Fi movies (even though it's under the ocean) ever.

Step 1:
Watch Get a Life with Chris Elliot.
Step 2:
Watch the Abyss
Step 3:
Cry/Laugh at his scenes in the movie.

[Lantyssa]

Show Syd the fugee face.  Sad face.  Sad fugee face.

[Bunk]

I didn't find anything "namby pamby" about Children of Men.

Actually, I thought it wasn't namby pamby enough.

I enjoyed the movie right up until they decided that it needed a big ACTION MOVIE! ending. The entire sequence in the prison town felt like I was watching someone play Counterstrike, and really just ruined the movie for me.

The first three quarters of the movie had a good solid balance between story, character development, and action. The last quarter threw that balance out the window.

I really don't know why this movie disappointed me so much. I think it was mainly a case of overhyped expectations. It was not the Sci-fi Robot Jesus I was expecting it to be. It wasn't the Second Coming of Blade Runner.

[bhodi]

You can read the book, which is MUCH happier.

Children of men was a decent movie, but agreed -- that list needs some work.

[Cadaverine]

What is this Children of Men?  I immediately picture Steve Guttenburg, and Tom Selleck every time I hear the name, so I know nothing of it.

As for the list

Farscape
Dune(the '84 full length version)
Twilight Zone/Outer Limits series - Not as good as the originals, but still good
700 Club
12 Monkeys

I'd also put Serial Experiments: Lain, and GitS on there as well, personally.

[Ironwood]

That's a very disturbing 'Dead Baby In The Uterus' avatar you've got there.
 

[Phildo]

I thought Brazil stunk.

But I don't expect it to be a popular view.

I didn't like Brazil either.  Couldn't finish it.

And I did't really enjoy Children of Men that much either, probably owing to how much Schild talked it up.  I think I just don't like Clive Owen?

[schild]

Hey, Phil, go read teh Wii Q&A session for FF4 news. /derail

[Lantyssa]

I didn't like Brazil all that much either, but it is better sci-fi than most of the original crappy list.

[Evil Elvis]

Dune would have been a great movie, if it didn't:

1) expose every stray thought of every character throughout the movie
2) have giant vagina-mouth brain slugs with teeny appendages
3) have the duke carry around that little fucking dog

Strangely, I hate the dog most of all.  How was he supposed to come off as regal carrying that thing under his arm?  Whoever made that call needs to never work in movies again.