CHUD.com Community › Forums › THE CHEWERS › Drafts & Lists › Entertainment Weekly's Best Sci-Fi of the Last 25 Years
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Entertainment Weekly's Best Sci-Fi of the Last 25 Years

post #1 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,2003...037541,00.html

I was intrigued until the first thing that slaps my eyeballs is fucking V. It was pretty damn cheesy when I first saw it and it doesn't belong on a best of anything looking back at it.

25. V (mini-series)
24. Galaxy Quest
23. Dr. Who
22. Quantum Leap
21. Futurama
20. Star Wars: Clone Wars
19. Starship Troopers
18. Heroes (Flame on!)
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
16. Totall Recall (Flame again!)
15. Firefly/Serenity
14. Children of Men
13. Terminator/Terminator 2
12. Back to the Future
11. Lost
10. The Thing
9. Aliens
8. Star Trek: The Next Generation
7. E.T.
6. Brazil
5. Star Trek II
4. The X-Files
3. Blade Runner
2. Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
1. The Matrix

Glaring omission: Gattaca
Reply
post #2 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:47pm
Heroes?!


I don't see Primer on there. List invalidated.
Reply
post #3 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:48pm
That order is allllllllllll fucked up.
Reply
post #4 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:51pm
half the movies on that list are better than The Matrix, and the inclusion of LOST kills the whole thing for me.

Plus, no Code 46, Solaris or Back to the Motherfucking Future? come on.

then again, its fucking EW. wankers. we need a CHUD top sci fi list.

EDIT: ok, i saw BTTF. the list is still fucked. and good call on primer being missing.
Reply
post #5 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:51pm
12. Back to the Future
Reply
post #6 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:57pm
I mean, I like the new Battlestar G and all, but...

Aliens can always be placed higher on any list, in my book.

Fuck Heroes and its inclusion. Its initial season of lift after lift after lift isn't even finished.
Reply
post #7 of 172
5/4/07 at 3:58pm
There is a lot of stuff to take issue with but I don't think V is among them. The weekly series was lame but the original mini-series and "The Final Battle" were all kinds of awesome. I've tried to live my life by the examples set by Ham Tyler and I have V to thank for that.
Reply
post #8 of 172
5/4/07 at 4:00pm
Futurama and Children of Men got screwed. I don't care how recent Children of Men is. I also think that Doctor Who is a fair sight better than about half the stuff on the list, but I'm not sure it's much higher than it's ranking on a proper list.
Reply
post #9 of 172
5/4/07 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,2003...037541,00.html

I was intrigued until the first thing that slaps my eyeballs is fucking V. It was pretty damn cheesy when I first saw it and it doesn't belong on a best of anything looking back at it.

25. V (mini-series)
24. Galaxy Quest
23. Dr. Who
22. Quantum Leap
21. Futurama
20. Star Wars: Clone Wars
19. Starship Troopers
18. Heroes (Flame on!)
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
16. Totall Recall (Flame again!)
15. Firefly/Serenity
14. Children of Men
13. Terminator/Terminator 2
12. Back to the Future
11. Lost
10. The Thing
9. Aliens
8. Star Trek: The Next Generation
7. E.T.
6. Brazil
5. Star Trek II
4. The X-Files
3. Blade Runner
2. Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
1. The Matrix

Glaring omission: Gattaca
Glaring omission 2: books
Reply
post #10 of 172
5/4/07 at 4:17pm
Books are only entertainment for you ivory-tower Northeastern liberals.
Reply
post #11 of 172
5/4/07 at 5:27pm
Much as I like Serenity, it has no place in that thread. It's space opera, not serious sci-fi.

Let's try a marginally better list, here
In no particular order:

Dark City
Primer
Children of Men
Twelve Monkeys
Brazil
Videodrome
Blade Runner
A Scanner Darkly
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Akira (I mean, really. Where the hell was this in their list?)
Alien
Cube
The Fly
Open Your Eyes (Unsure of the spanish title- was remade as Vanilla Sky)
The Thing
The Dead Zone
Aliens
Doctor Who
Battlestar Galactica (new)
Babylon 5?
Terminator 1 and 2
Starship Troopers
Pi

Solaris and Gattaca, which I have not seen yet, make a nice 25.
Reply
post #12 of 172
5/4/07 at 5:33pm
Heroes shouldn't be on there for any reason, and I really don't think Lost should be either. We don't yet know how much sci-fi is involved, for one. And secondly, I'm not prepared to say how good it is until I've seen the end of the story. You don't review 2/3 of a movie (unless you're Kevin Matchstick, but he gets a pass) and you can't rate 3 seasons of a continuing series like Lost.

All these lists tend to be shit though. But I like the Matrix, and I think you can argue for it to be tops. Dark City needs to be there too however.
Reply
post #13 of 172
5/4/07 at 5:53pm
The Fountain?

I know it's widely derided by some here, but A.I. would fit nicely on this list.
Reply
post #14 of 172
5/4/07 at 5:56pm
Remember, it's the last 25 years, so ALIEN wouldn't be eligible.
Reply
post #15 of 172
5/4/07 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB
The Fountain?
I might be thinking this the wrong way, but I think the movie is more fantasy than sci-fi.
Reply
post #16 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB
The Fountain?

I know it's widely derided by some here, but A.I. would fit nicely on this list.
Considering how The Fountain was neglected by critics and audiences alike I doubt it'll make it on any best of... list. I imagine we'll have to wait another 3-5 years before any substantial number of people begin to revisit and appreciate it - if they ever do.

Also, yes, I'm a not so closeted A.I. fan.
Reply
post #17 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:05pm
No existenZ! Vanilla Sky is based upon "Abre los ojos"
Reply
post #18 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xagarath Ankor
Much as I like Serenity, it has no place in that thread. It's space opera, not serious sci-fi.

Let's try a marginally better list, here
In no particular order:

Dark City
Primer
Children of Men
Twelve Monkeys
Brazil
Videodrome
Blade Runner
A Scanner Darkly
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Akira (I mean, really. Where the hell was this in their list?)
Alien
Cube
The Fly
Open Your Eyes (Unsure of the spanish title- was remade as Vanilla Sky)
The Thing
The Dead Zone
Aliens
Doctor Who
Battlestar Galactica (new)
Babylon 5?
Terminator 1 and 2
Starship Troopers
Pi

Solaris and Gattaca, which I have not seen yet, make a nice 25.
Excellent list, and I agree with just about all of your choices (I'm waffling on Babylon Five). Dave B is right, though; The Fountain and A.I. absolutely need to be on any list of the best sci fi of the last 25 years.

I also have to agree with Nordling and say that Alien does not qualify, and neither do The Thing, Blade Runner, Videodrome, The Dead Zone or Terminator (which I think came out in 1984) due to the whole "last 25 years" thing. I love them all, though and would happily put them on a list of the best sci fi of the past 50 years.
Reply
post #19 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:08pm
Quote:
also have to agree with Nordling and say that Alien does not qualify, and neither do The Thing, Blade Runner, Videodrome, The Dead Zone or Terminator (which I think came out in 1984) due to the whole "last 25 years" thing.
Huh?
Reply
post #20 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Detonathor
I might be thinking this the wrong way, but I think the movie is more fantasy than sci-fi.
All depends on where you draw the line between hard and soft s/f. I think of "fantasy" as shit with magic and dragons. The Fountain gets a little figurative, but it's essentially s/f in the spirit of Ellison, Dick, and Bradbury, where the ideas are more important than the technology.
Reply
post #21 of 172
5/4/07 at 6:43pm
I'm an ignoramus when it comes to these things, but what about Minority Report?
Reply
post #22 of 172
5/4/07 at 7:05pm
Although people have suggested that I consider the ending of MR w/ a more equivocal, Dickensian perspective, I have to say that I found the film to a be a pretty toothless disappointment.

It's not particularly successful as a science-fiction film, in fact I found it to be rather unambitious and also it proved next to impossible for me to find any emotional towline in Anderton's story.

I've said before and I'll say it again; fucking tea and log cabins!?
Reply
post #23 of 172
5/4/07 at 7:12pm
Bother, Alien was my mistake, and should've thought of The Fountain.

Not an AI fan at all, though, and while I liked Minority Report, it's not quite list-worthy
Reply
post #24 of 172
5/4/07 at 7:13pm
Ah yes, for expertise on science fiction, I look to EW. I'm surprised Stargate SG-1 isn't on the list. It is, after all, on the Sci-Fi network.
Reply
post #25 of 172
5/4/07 at 7:22pm
Primer, Dark City, Stargate..... Couldn't agree more
Reply
post #26 of 172
5/4/07 at 8:32pm
Gattaca and Primer. Pure and simple. Plus, what the fuck is firefly doing there?
Reply
post #27 of 172
5/4/07 at 8:51pm
no winterbottom fans? Code 46 is pretty awesome in my book.

and i'd count The Fountain as sci-fi, as i do remember Aronofsky describing the Year 2500 sequences as such. so yes, List it, and damn the critics and the public.

If Minority Report ended 20 minutes earlier, id put it the top 5.

Akira and 12 Monkeys are two great calls, as well.

but come on, in the end, its an EW list. which is as good as a list show on VH1. which is to say, not good at all.
Reply
post #28 of 172
5/4/07 at 9:42pm
Primer is shit, so I'm personally glad to see it not on the list. I'd kick Brazil off too if I had my way. But I am happy to see that Children Of Men, Lost, BSG, and Firefly/Serenity made it on here. EW got this one pretty much spot on.
Reply
post #29 of 172
5/5/07 at 12:02am
Stalker? Fifth Element? I like Fifth Element. I love it, even. I loooove it.
Reply
post #30 of 172
5/5/07 at 12:15am
Contact
Reply
post #31 of 172
5/5/07 at 1:19am
For its time V was a pretty decent mini series. Im not sure it belongs on the list but it is good.
Reply
post #32 of 172
5/5/07 at 1:57am
I could easily fill half the list with anime, but instead I'll ponder the glaring omissions of Predator and Robocop.
Reply
post #33 of 172
5/5/07 at 2:01am
Thread Starter 
Geez, how did I of all people forget about A.I.???
Reply
post #34 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:41am
Since when do EW people watch sci-fi? They don't. They can't even catagorize them properly.

Since it was mentioned,"Alien" is NOT science-fiction. It's a horror film. If you dump the sci-fi stuff and take the same premise; creature stalking people one by one and put it on a boat, plane, train, you still have a movie.

Take out the creature stuff and you have zip.

The same could be said of The Thing. When I watch either, it's for the horror stuff, not for the sci-fi background.

Fuck them for not adding "A.I."

Glad to see they put "V" on there as it still holds up.

Contact is a great one too.

FUCK Lost.
Reply
post #35 of 172
5/5/07 at 4:03am
Heroes is pretty embarassing to watch.
Reply
post #36 of 172
5/5/07 at 9:16am
No Babylon 5?

Fuck that list.
Reply
post #37 of 172
5/5/07 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Wood
I could easily fill half the list with anime, but instead I'll ponder the glaring omissions of Predator and Robocop.

Predator never struck me as particularly "great" sf, though it certainly is a fun and overall terrific action film.
Reply
post #38 of 172
5/5/07 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Since it was mentioned,"Alien" is NOT science-fiction. It's a horror film. If you dump the sci-fi stuff and take the same premise; creature stalking people one by one and put it on a boat, plane, train, you still have a movie.

Take out the creature stuff and you have zip.

The same could be said of The Thing. When I watch either, it's for the horror stuff, not for the sci-fi background.
Fair enough; I'd say The Thing moreso than Alien because setting is at least nominally important in the latter, and not at all in the former.

Of course, if we're going to play the "take this out and you've got x" game, that eliminates craploads of sf - good AND bad - from the list.
Reply
post #39 of 172
5/5/07 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Since it was mentioned,"Alien" is NOT science-fiction. It's a horror film. If you dump the sci-fi stuff and take the same premise; creature stalking people one by one and put it on a boat, plane, train, you still have a movie.

Take out the creature stuff and you have zip.[/I]

If you dump the sci-fi stuff?

Take out the creature stuff and you are still left with interstellar miners, androids, super computers, planetary exploration... all staples of sci-fi. Add in the creature( a creature that is a purely science fiction creation, by the way) and you still have a science fiction film that belongs to the subgenre of sci-fi/horror.


So you disregard the science fiction in Alien and The Thing(also including a completely sci-fi creature) when you watch them and that is why you wouldn't classify them as science fiction? If I were to disregard the boxing in Rocky could I be justified in saying it's not a sports movie?
Reply
post #40 of 172
5/5/07 at 2:57pm
Yeah, you could play that game all day. Take the action sequences out of Lethal Weapon, and you've got a drama about a depressed cop. It's really not a very valid argument.
Reply
post #41 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:09pm
Good points.

However, my point is "Alien" and "The Thing" are not watched for their sci-fi trappings. Sure, the sci-fi stuff is used to move the plot and explain things, but they are not full blown sci-fi films with wild ideas and bold thoughts. They are genre benders out to scare and gross you out.

So, for me, they don't qualify as True Sci-fi films. Greatness aside.
Reply
post #42 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:14pm
So would you call Blade Runner a Sci-fi film? What sci-fi trappings does it contain that Alien doesn't? Both have androids and a future setting. Would you consider Blade Runner just a film noir?

What would you classify as a true sci-fi film?
Reply
post #43 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Good points.

However, my point is "Alien" and "The Thing" are not watched for their sci-fi trappings. Sure, the sci-fi stuff is used to move the plot and explain things, but they are not full blown sci-fi films with wild ideas and bold thoughts. They are genre benders out to scare and gross you out.

So, for me, they don't qualify as True Sci-fi films. Greatness aside.
You're being overly pedantic on this subject.

I can see the "not-sf" argument for The Thing FAR more than Alien; granted, both are really the monster movie with a twist, but the sf setting at least provides plot points in Alien - if nothing else. Just because it works as horror doesn't mean it doesn't also work as sf. Genres aren't mutually exclusive.
Reply
post #44 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by General Zod
Since it was mentioned,"Alien" is NOT science-fiction. It's a horror film. If you dump the sci-fi stuff and take the same premise; creature stalking people one by one and put it on a boat, plane, train, you still have a movie.
ALIEN: A human simulacra (Ash) prizes the survival of an alien organism over humans. The alien could be a virus, or a massive zenomorph with acid for blood, but Ash makes it sci-fi.
Reply
post #45 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:26pm
And I'd argue that what tips the scales in regards to THE THING from horror with sci-fi trappings to pure science fiction is the idea of planet wide infection by an alien organism.
Reply
post #46 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amphibatron
And I'd argue that what tips the scales in regards to THE THING from horror with sci-fi trappings to pure science fiction is the idea of planet wide infection by an alien organism.
I'd disagree on THE THING. As in ALIEN, the organism could be anything. It could be a virus just as easily as the creature.

Everyone has their own strict definition of sci-fi -- I've always seen it as an exploration of the way technology interacts with and affects humanity. PRIMER: sci-fi. BLADE RUNNER: sci-fi. A SCANNER DARKLY: not sci-fi, even though it uses futuristic trappings like the scanners and scramble suit.

THE THING: not sci-fi, because it's not about our relationship to something we've created.
Reply
post #47 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russ Fischer
I'd disagree on THE THING. As in ALIEN, the organism could be anything. It could be a virus just as easily as the creature.

Everyone has their own strict definition of sci-fi -- I've always seen it as an exploration of the way technology interacts with and affects humanity. PRIMER: sci-fi. BLADE RUNNER: sci-fi. A SCANNER DARKLY: not sci-fi, even though it uses futuristic trappings like the scanners and scramble suit.

THE THING: not sci-fi, because it's not about our relationship to something we've created.
That's a pretty limiting definition, though. War of the Worlds has nothing to do with something we created, but I doubt that most would argue that it's not science fiction.
Reply
post #48 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:35pm
But why does it have to be something we created?

edit- Greg beat me to it.

Also: A person coming in contact with an alien being without the aid of man made science wouldn't be science fiction? What about the scientific creation of the aliens, themselves? The alien in THE THING crash lands on the earth in a ship of it's own design(or possibly not) and threatens a worldwide contamination. That's not a science fiction concept?
Reply
post #49 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
That's a pretty limiting definition, though. War of the Worlds has nothing to do with something we created, but I doubt that most would argue that it's not science fiction.
Most wouldn't argue that STAR WARS is science fiction, either, though it obviously isn't.

WAR OF THE WORLDS comes from a time when theorizing the arrival of giant machines was sci-fi (and there's the obvious undercurrent of an expanded notion of the universe, which is a sci-fi trapping) but fundamentally it's a monster story/movie.
Reply
post #50 of 172
5/5/07 at 3:42pm
Seems like we are getting into pretty subjective defintions of science fiction.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Drafts & Lists
CHUD.com Community › Forums › THE CHEWERS › Drafts & Lists › Entertainment Weekly's Best Sci-Fi of the Last 25 Years