2001: A Space OdysseyAny glaring omissions?
A Clockwork Orange
A Scanner Darkly
Akira
Alien
Andromeda Strain
Animatrix
Appleseed
Artificial Intelligence
Avalon
Battle Star Galactica (2005-06)
Blade Runner
Castle in the Sky
Children of Dune
Children of Men
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Code 46
Contact
Dark City
Donnie Darko
Forbidden Planet
Frank Herbert's Dune (2000)
Futurama (Seasons 1-4)
Gattaca
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Johnny Mnemonic
Logan's Run
Matrix
Matrix: Reloaded
Metropolis (1927)
Metropolis (2002)
Minority Report
Planet of the Apes
Return of the Jedi
Robocop
Serial Experiments: Lain
Silent Running
Solaris (1972)
Star Wars
Stargate
Strange Days
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Empire Strikes Back
The Fifth Element
The Thing (From Another World!)
The Thirteenth Floor
THX 1138
Titan AE
Tron
Vanilla Sky
War of the Worlds
Wizards
November 1, 2007
My sci-fi DVD collection is coming along nicely
Here's a list of my science fiction film collection (all on DVD):
I recommend:
ReplyDelete-David Lynch's Dune
-Babylon 5
-Firefly
Good hard sci-fi in film is unfortunately hard to find.
Back to the Future, Æon Flux (animated series, not the film), Event Horizon, The Twilight Zone television series all come to mind. Those are all worth buying, I think. There are some great lists of sci-fi films by category at Wikipedia, naturally.
ReplyDeleteSunshine
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sunshinedna.com
Primer. Primer is the time-travel movie.
ReplyDeleteYeah until you have to re-purchase all of 'em in HD DVD or Blu-ray.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of, can you look into your sci-fi crystal ball and tell me which format is gonna win?
I recommend The Cube and Cypher. Equilibrium too.
ReplyDeleteIf you like anime: Planetes.
The TV series, Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex is great, though I don't believe that it shares any continuity with the movies. The second episode moves me to tears without fail.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, like about 12 years old or so... back before Anime made it over to North America, I stayed up LATE one night to watch Heavy Metal when it was on First Choice or Superchannel (Remember those first Cable Movie Channels?), and was blown away by it... I haven't actually looked for it on DVD, I have to admit, I'm not big on buying DVD's, tend to just DL, but if there is a remastered version w/ some decent extras it could be worth picking up...
ReplyDeleteFor pure humor value: Plan 9 From Outer Space.
ReplyDeleteAlso, like Anon#2 said, Primer.
I suggest Godzilla--the recently-released, original version, not the Raymond Burr version for the U.S. market.
ReplyDeleteColossus: The Forbin Project
ReplyDelete- a "must see" for singularitarians
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1984
ReplyDeleteA Clockwork Orange
Brazil
Fahrenheit 451
Gattaca
Total Recall
Added A Clockwork Orange; forgot I had that one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendations! There's still so much to see.
Soylent Green (is people)!
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, as I think Star Trek needs some type of recommendation on the list.
ReplyDeleteWould V for Vendetta qualify as a Sci-Fi film?
ReplyDelete-- The Fly (Cronenburg version)
ReplyDelete-- Terminator
-- 2001
-- John Carpenter's The Thing
I'll second john's vote for Firefly and add my own: David Cronenberg's 1999 film eXistenZ.
ReplyDeleteAny Godzilla or Gamera movie--my personal favorites are Godzilla vs. King Kong, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and Destroy all Monsters.
ReplyDeleteWhat about such obscure and wonderfully awful classics as War of the Gargantuas, or Robinson Crusoe on Mars?
or the great insect movies--Them, for example?
I 2nd Ghost in the Shell: Stand alone Complex.
ReplyDeleteThat series is really really good. It is one of my all time favorites.
Videodrome
ReplyDeleteThe Man Who Fell to Earth
ReplyDeleteHow freaky are your tastes?
ReplyDelete- Repo Man
- Liquid Sky
- A Boy and His Dog
Nice collection, btw!
There's an anime produced in 2006 called Ergo Proxy everyone above should own. It's just that good.
ReplyDeleteSky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skycaptain.com/
I'd make this in the top 10 as well:
ReplyDeleteColossus-the Forbin Project
http://www.amazon.com/Colossus-Forbin-Project-Eric-Braeden/dp/B0003JAOO0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7488124-1323129?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1194102415&sr=8-1
Serenity is a glaring omission
ReplyDeleteSleeper
Predator
Buckaroo Banzai
The Thing (old version and new)
Saturn 3
One
12 Monkeys
Starship Troopers
The Man Who Fell To Earth
TV:
The old Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials.
Space 1999
Space above and beyond
A great collection. And your readers' suggestions -- the great majority of them -- are terrific.
ReplyDeleteAll I can think to add are the third Matrix film; Clooney's Solaris [I know, I know. But it's very good!]; and The British TV version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe.
Aliens (the 2nd one) and The Abyss are James Cameron classics worth owning.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with other readers' recommendations on Total Recall, Dune and 12 Monkeys. 12 Monkeys is way underappreciated, I think.
And I'm gonna finally give Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex a try after all the positive recommendations here.
Remember now I'm an old dude. These mostly come from the 1950s/1960s.
ReplyDeleteBut a Sci. Fi. collection must have them. Some are Bug movies but that makes
them Sci. Fi.
Panic in year zero, 1962 (Atomic bombs and surivors)
The last man on Earth, 1964 (long before Night Of the Living Dead there were those dang Zombies)
Earth VS the Spider AKA The Spider 1958. (Hot rods, chicks, and giant Spiders.)
Tarantula!, 1955 (More giant spiders.)
Giant Spider Invasion (Even more giant spiders! And "The Skipper" to boot! Can you say "little buddy?")
This Island Earth, 1955
Monolith Monsters 1957(Used to be hard to find, but it has been "discovered" again.)
It! the Terror from Space. 1958. (Alien is based on this one and the original is great.)
It Came from Outer Space, 1953.
When Worlds Collide, 1951 (Won an academy award for special effects.)
Assignment Outer Space. 1961.
Unknown World, 1951
The Black Scorpion, 1957 (Clint Eastwood is the pilot in the jet.)
This is not a Test, 1962 (Great plot)
Unknown Island, 1948. (I loved it as a kid.)
Destination Moon, 1950. (George Pal...need I say more?)
All the Ray Harryhausen Movies...First Men in the Moon, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs the Flying
Saucers, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Mysterious Island,)
Them! 1954. (Considered a classic and I agree. One of the creepiest opening to any movie. James Whitmore,
James Arness, Fess Parker)
The Blob, 1958 (Steve Mcqueen)
I could just keep going forever.
The Giant Spider Invasion
If one includes TV serials, how about Doctor Who, maybe 'Doctor Who: The Five Doctors' (1983). 'Terror of the Zygons' and Genesis of Daleks,' 'The Invasion of Time,' and 'Logopolis' are some of the Tom Baker classics which come to mind. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/
ReplyDeleteAs I consider it further, maybe creating categories might be better than an ever growing list, e.g., most formative and most representative of the genre and then other categories such as best animations, best in their era, best films, best serials, etc.
I agree w/John's recommendations and his statement that good, hard sci-fi in film is unfortunately hard to find. Considering the wide number of suggestions you're receiving here and on the Chronicle of Higher Education's site, from which I linked to find your fascinating material,
What is the defintion of sci-fi with which you are using to create your library?
I'd add
ReplyDeleteLe Dernier Combat
Fantastic Planet
Brazil
Stalker
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
off the top of my head.
i you liked Dark City you'll probably like City of Lost Children.
ReplyDeleteLet me suggest some New Zealand films, M8, leaving out those that were big hits in the US.
ReplyDeleteThe Quiet Earth
http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/FilmCatalogue/Films/The-Quiet-Earth.aspx
> I love Bruno Lawrence and would strongly also recommend Smash Palace, even though not SF, just because he stars in it.
Perfect Creature
http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/FilmCatalogue/Films/PERFECT-CREATURE.aspx
Sleeping Dogs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_%281977_film%29
Whale Rider
I include this film, because though not SF, it has some elements that I think might appeal and be common to SF
The Navigator
It seems nobody has recommended The Man from Earth ( http://imdb.com/title/tt0756683/ ) yet. It's the best sci-fi movie I've seen in years. No special effects, no big stars, no big budget. Just a bunch of college professors sitting in a room, having a conversation. Sounds boring? Believe me, it's anything but.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Quatermass and the Pit, it is out of print and very hard to find but good quality hard sci-fi for any collection. If you like kaiju, then the Heisei Gamera trilogy is a must.
ReplyDelete