Movie Theme of the Month: Science Fiction

Unlike our horror compilation that we were able to do chronologically Sci-fi films are a little trickier because as technology has improved so have the films themselves. Which makes sense that films based on the future and technology should be reliant on technology to bring them alive. That's not to say early sci-fi films aren't worth seeing but you have to take them with a grain of salt as many of them can be considered very cheesy. But some of the earlier Sci-fi films would resonate with many of the later films including the first film on our list.

Star Wars was the first Sci-fi film to go mainstream and was even up for many of the honors normally reserved by dramas like the Oscar. The film also changed special effects forever as Lucasfilm created many of the technologies not available at that time to create a realistic space opera. Taking its cue from many of the Flash Gordon serials of the 1940's it resurrected the genre and gave it new life as well as changed film forever with its revolutions in special effects. The best film of the trilogy is easily The Empire Strikes Back and is also a must on any sci-fi list. You can pretty much skip the prequels unless you are a star wars geek like many of us including myself but Return of the Jedi is good to round out the story even if it was the weakest of the original trilogy.

Then we should move on to those aforementioned classic serials Flash Gordon. From the glory days of Saturday morning cinema when you could spend all day Saturday morning enjoying a lineup of serial films. While many of them can be considered cheesy it was that romantic idea of serial films and Saturday morning cinema that Directors like George Lucas grew up watching and eventually made him want to make his own film. Plus Flash is such a cool character, a New York Jets Quarterback that ends up saving the universe. Many of these films can be found in collections and are fun to watch them five or six at a time. The 1980 Flash Gordon film tried to cash in on the success of the Star Wars craze and is worth seeing but its lack of technology will always keep it as a cult favorite and nothing more.

The 1970's were a great time for Sci-fi and Alien gave us a Hitchcockian like suspense for a sci-fi film. You don't see the actual alien tell three quarters through the movie but when it does pop its head up its definitely worth it. Another notable worth seeing is Aliens as it gives us more of the creepy crawlers and you don't have to wait as long for them. Many people like 3 and 4 but I think the series should have ended at two as I was never a fan of spending an entire movie trying to save a character to only whack them five minutes into the sequel.

Stephen Spielberg even got his hands into the Sci-fi pot on numerous occasions. Close Encounters of the Third kind came out the same year as Star Wars and is not to be missed either. His most famous tenure might be E.T. but for our list we will skip the family classic and instead take on one of his latest tries at the genre Minority Report. Any film that can make you like Tom Cruise is definitely worth seeing.

Speaking of Spielberg I was not a fan of his remake of War of the Worlds but the 1953 classic is definitely worth checking out. It might not have the glitz and glamour of the remake but it does have a better story, better acting and is just simply a batter movie overall.

Then we must move on to the Matrix, much like Star Wars this film has had massive impact on the overall film landscape. For several years following its release you couldn't get away from the slow motion and stop action techniques employed in the film and copied in everything including kid fare like Shrek. Some discount the two sequels but I liked both Reloaded and Revolutions as they were great sci-fi fare and while they didn't end how many would have liked they still gave a great show and story.

Another favorite and worth the viewing is the Terminator series. Many like Judgment Day the sequel the best but for me I would stick worth the original as the dialogue of the sequel quickly became dated and over quoted while the original is just a masterpiece of drama and a good chase film. The third is easily the weakest of the films and while still a pretty good film it is one of those sequels they just waited to long to make.

The next one our list is an odd one for me because I never liked the movie and consider it one of the most overrated and boring films of all time but even I have to concede the film changed the face of sci-fi and special effects forever. 2001 a space odyssey captured what the earth would like from the moon before we had even gone to the moon. The footage of the film has also sparked numerous conspiracy theories that we have never gone to the moon and Stanley Kubrick's classic is where they got their footage. That is a pretty profound effect outside of the just being a film and it worth seeing at least once in your lifetime, do as I do and just fast forward through the 22 minutes of monkeys growling at each other.

And through all this every now and then it’s good to sit back and watch some really cheesy films, films that are so bad they are good. Of course on top of the list is Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Ed Wood infamous film that personifies bad film. But Ed Wood is not alone in creating bad films that are so bad they are good another classic of this genre is Starship Troopers. These are the kind of films you can laugh at while you watch them and not to be taken seriously outside of just good fun to watch.


Then we can move on to Blade Runner, the Ridley Scott classic. And to wrap up our list we can do some good fashioned sci-fi that was both film and a television series. Of course there is Star Trek, I myself would be more of a fan of the next generation but the best movie in the series of course is the Wrath of Khan. Then X-Files for some sci-fi and phenomenon mystery as well and finally followed by Stargate and Serenity/Firefly. And if we want some science fiction that has only been on television my vote goes for Battlestar Galatica one of the best shows on all of TV right now.