Help: 25 Best FANTASTIC Movies Ever?
soren...@gmail.com
I am a member (well, president, actually) of a tiny local science
fiction society, and I am considering the idea of publishing (strictly
as a non-profit project) a book about the best 25 movies in all the
fantastic genres, which are: science fiction, fantasy, supernatural
horror, superheroes, surrealism and time-travel. Not 25 movies per
genre, but 25 movies *all in all*, which includes the prime and most
worthy representatives of these genres.
The problem is how to pick them. I hit upon the idea of asking
everybody I can find who are highly qualified. Reviewers, academics,
industry pros, fandom aficionados, amateur experts on newsgroups and
message boards... this is where you come in! :-) I need votes. Not just
from anybody. From people who know their movies - you know who you are!
Which I am willing to take your word for.
Which 25 movies do you think should be on this list? Please include
representatives of each fantastic genre (though not necessarily in
equal proportion), and, VERY IMPORTANTLY, please include a few lines of
argumentation for each choice. If you want to make sure your votes are
counted in the final tally, please also provide a few words on your
connoiseur qualifications (not asking for diplomas or anything; just
the reason you think you're qualified to pick the best of the bunch).
In fact, you can vote for as many or as few movies as you like. If I'm
convinced of your qualifications, every vote will count. In the end,
the 25 movies will be picked based on their respective number of votes:
four movies from each of the six genres mentioned above, plus one
"wildcard" that may be from any genre, or which is hard or impossible
to properly categorize.
TV movies are also allowed, as are well-rounded TV-miniseries! And yes,
movies that I have never heard of will also be counted.
You can post your choices in this thread or mail me directly at my
gmail address. The finished book that will hopefully emerge from this
project is as yet merely a dream, but if it is published and your votes
are counted, your name will also be in it. That is all the reward I can
give you.
Here is my own *personal* preliminary top-25, which may well not at all
resemble the final list of movies that I will be receiving votes for -
though I hope there will be *some* overlapping (and yes, obvious
trilogies only count as one):
SF (incl. SF/horror and SF/fantasy):
2001 (1968)
Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Bladerunner (1982)
Brazil (1985)
Contact (1997)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Matrix I-III (1999-2003)
Solyaris (1972)
Starship Troopers (1997)
Star Trek - The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Wars IV (1977)
Total Recall (1990)
Fantasy:
10th Kingdom (2000)
Highlander (1986)
Ladyhawke (1985)
Horror:
Izo (2004)
Time-Travel:
Back to the Future I-III (1985-90)
The Butterfly Effect - Director's Cut (2004)
Les Visiteurs (1993)
Time After Time (1979)
Surrealism:
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Big Fish (2003)
Superheroes:
Mystery Men (1999)
I know my list is of fairly recent movies (1980s and up, mostly), but I
am a sucker for good production values and a certain amount of action
and entertainment value. This doesn't have to influence your voting,
however; by all means vote for older movies if that is where your
allegiance lies. It is also clear from my list that my personal bias is
towards SF, whereas I'm not a big fan of horror. But that should not
deter horror fans from casting their votes. Similarly, my list is
dominated by American movies. Don't be afraid to vote for foreign
material.
Hope to receive plenty of feedback, and thank you very much in advance
to any who respond!
- Tue Sorensen
trike
Fantasy:
Raiders of the Lost Ark
--- I don't think you can get much more fun than this film, and it
fills the bill of lots of action.
Field of Dreams
--- Not a huge amount of action, but I really love the warm spirit and
gentle comedy of this movie.
Science Fiction:
Serenity
--- One of the best-written space operas ever made. You don't have to
have seen the TV show it was based on to follow the story: it's
completely self-contained. It also sports some of the best dialogue
ever written, and easily one of the most quotable SF films since
Aliens.
The Terminator
--- Easily one of the best low budget independent sci-fi films ever
made. Arnold was so perfectly cast as the killer cyborg that even when
he was replaced by the animated/animatronic terminator, we were still
calling it "Arnold."
The Thing
--- This is John Carpenter at the top of his game, and the film manages
to do justice to both the short story and quite good first film made
from it. Made in 1982, this film also previews the coming AIDs
epidemic, something that SF excels at.
Delicatessen
--- I really enjoy this crazy post-apocalyptic flick.
The Truman Show
--- Andrew Niccol's prescient story about a guy whose whole life is the
subject of a reality TV program is funny as well as tightly-scripted.
Time Travel:
Frequency
--- An interesting variation on the time travel idea, and one of the
better uses of paradox. Good amount of action, too.
Superheroes:
The Incredibles
--- As far as i'm concerned, this is the ultimate superhero movie.
Heart, character, brilliant acting and animation, an amazing score, and
a fun story to boot.
X-Men
--- Of all the live-action superhero flicks, this one is the best in my
opinion.
Sky High
--- This one is far better than its surface presentation of the
coming-of-age story, with a lot of droll comedy and a strong wink-wink
factor for anyone who grew up in the early 80s.
Doug
Jack Bohn
>fantastic genres, which are: science fiction, fantasy, supernatural
>horror, superheroes, surrealism and time-travel.
>I know my list is of fairly recent movies (1980s and up, mostly), but I
>am a sucker for good production values
Excuse me, you must have hit my contrarian button.
For production values I have to bring up:
Frankenstein (1931)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Those movies looked the way their makers intended them to look.
And speaking of "look," you have to say something for fixing THE
image of Frankenstein in the public mind. The only fault I can
find in them is punting to a "happy" ending.
File them under SF or SF/horror.
I don't know if I can come up with a full 25 films, so, borrowing
from your list:
2001
Blade Runner
Brazil (although I would reclassify that as "surreal")
Star Wars
Time After Time
Plus:
Science Fiction
GATTACA (Just to include one that's not heavy special effects or
space (well, mostly not space), also the sf elements are not
decorations over a cop show or fairy tale, but the source of the
story.)
War of the Worlds (1953) (Again, this looked they way it was
intended to look. The fashion of that time now looks too
"stagey" for our eyes. Not only was it shot mostly on a
soundstage rather than location, but the refugees look to be
wearing freshly laundered, pressed, and then rumpled clothes.)
Fantasy
Wizard of Oz (1939) (I mean, *come on*!! Plus to show that
fantasy is not just sword and sorcery, but children's stories,
too.)
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) (An H.G.Wells story for
fantasy as parable.)
My Neighbor Totoro (1993) (Another children's story, this time a
cartoon from Japan. Totoro being a Japanese ogre. Imagine the
best parts of ET with none of the bad parts.)
Superheroes:
Spider-Man (My favorite superhero movie, just reminded Raimi also
did)
Darkman
Some I'm not so sure are the "best," but are worth a look:
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958, Czechoslovakia) (Mainly
for production design, the plot is a pastiche of Verne at his
least inspired, and the "inventions" shown are less plausible,
but the movie is designed -through the use of mattes, set design,
and animation- to look like a nineteenth-century engraving
brought to life.)
Phase IV (1974) (Just to include one bug movie. An ant colony
gains intelligence, besieges a scientific outpost.)
Hope that helps.
--
-Jack
Reader of fantastic literature since I was old enough to. Rabid
sf reader and movie watcher since Star Wars first came out.
trike
Jack Bohn wrote:
>
> Phase IV (1974) (Just to include one bug movie. An ant colony
> gains intelligence, besieges a scientific outpost.)
Durrr, how could I forget Phase IV? Directed by the great film credits
designer Saul Bass, it's one of the few films where color is
practically a character.
Doug
soren...@gmail.com
> sorensonian wrote:
>
> >fantastic genres, which are: science fiction, fantasy, supernatural
> >horror, superheroes, surrealism and time-travel.
>
> >I know my list is of fairly recent movies (1980s and up, mostly), but I
> >am a sucker for good production values
>
> Excuse me, you must have hit my contrarian button.
> For production values I have to bring up:
>
> Frankenstein (1931)
> Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
> Those movies looked the way their makers intended them to look.
> And speaking of "look," you have to say something for fixing THE
> image of Frankenstein in the public mind. The only fault I can
> find in them is punting to a "happy" ending.
Yeah, these indeed do appear on the list of 125 nominated movies that
we'll be choosing the 25 best from.
> File them under SF or SF/horror.
They have SF elements, but I'd still classify them primarily as horror.
The story intends to warn against playing with the building blocks of
life, and it uses horrific imagery and narrative to do so. Considering
how aged the story is (today we're perfectly happy to play with the
building blocks of life, and we'll be even happier to do so in the
future. We can't say yet if it'll have disastrous results in the end,
but I think we have good reason to assume that it won't - quite the
contrary), I cannot, as with Verne, classify it as proper SF.
> I don't know if I can come up with a full 25 films, so, borrowing
> from your list:
> 2001
> Blade Runner
> Brazil (although I would reclassify that as "surreal")
> Star Wars
> Time After Time
I'm glad someone else thinks Time After Time should be on the list! A
lot of people haven't seen it, but it's a great and very effectively
told movie.
> Plus:
> Science Fiction
> GATTACA (Just to include one that's not heavy special effects or
> space (well, mostly not space), also the sf elements are not
> decorations over a cop show or fairy tale, but the source of the
> story.)
I love Gattaca. It almost made my own top-25.
> War of the Worlds (1953) (Again, this looked they way it was
> intended to look. The fashion of that time now looks too
> "stagey" for our eyes. Not only was it shot mostly on a
> soundstage rather than location, but the refugees look to be
> wearing freshly laundered, pressed, and then rumpled clothes.)
I saw it not too long ago, and frankly wasn't terribly impressed. I
think the definitive version is still to be made, and ought to be very
much in the spirit of Jeff Wayne's musical version.
> Fantasy
> Wizard of Oz (1939) (I mean, *come on*!! Plus to show that
> fantasy is not just sword and sorcery, but children's stories,
> too.)
Yeah, it's on the longer list of nominees. Still, I do think the whole
"children's movies" thing is problematic. The requirements for realism
and causality are totally different for children's stories; the level
of suspension of disbelief is very different. Children's movies should
perhaps be a genre unto itself.
> The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) (An H.G.Wells story for
> fantasy as parable.)
Sounds very interesting indeed! I'll see if I can dust it up.
> My Neighbor Totoro (1993) (Another children's story, this time a
> cartoon from Japan. Totoro being a Japanese ogre. Imagine the
> best parts of ET with none of the bad parts.)
I know a lot of people love Totoro, but I am not among them. Too
cutesy, and the art style is just too monotonous. Almost everything and
everybody looks the same in Miyazaki's movies (and in manga/anime
generally - but even more so in Miyazaki's stuff). I like some of them,
but especially the ones for and about very young kids really are not my
cup of tea. The backgrounds are consistently beautiful, though.
> Superheroes:
> Spider-Man (My favorite superhero movie
The Spidey movies are good, and I'm a big time Spider-Man collector
myself, but... there's just something about them that makes them dull
on repeated viewings. I liked them the first time, but I find them
boring to sit through again. The entertainment value just isn't up
there. I've rated them 8 out of 10, but a list of the 25 best movies
should be made up mainly of tenners (and maybe some niners).
> Raimi also did Darkman
Darkman was boring.
> Some I'm not so sure are the "best," but are worth a look:
> The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958, Czechoslovakia) (Mainly
> for production design, the plot is a pastiche of Verne at his
> least inspired, and the "inventions" shown are less plausible,
> but the movie is designed -through the use of mattes, set design,
> and animation- to look like a nineteenth-century engraving
> brought to life.)
If I stumble across it...
> Phase IV (1974) (Just to include one bug movie. An ant colony
> gains intelligence, besieges a scientific outpost.)
It's come up before - I haven't seen it, but I'll look for it.
> Reader of fantastic literature since I was old enough to. Rabid
> sf reader and movie watcher since Star Wars first came out.
OK, thanks! :-)
- Tue
soren...@gmail.com
> Fantasy:
>
> Raiders of the Lost Ark
> --- I don't think you can get much more fun than this film, and it
> fills the bill of lots of action.
It's on the larger list of nominees. And yeah, it's a true classic.
> Field of Dreams
> --- Not a huge amount of action, but I really love the warm spirit and
> gentle comedy of this movie.
Oooo - Kevin Costner on a top-25 of anything? I dunno... I hate most of
his stuff. No Way Out and Tin Cup are the only ones I'd call "good",
but they're not genre movies. I confess I don't remember much from
Field of Dreams - it's been many years since Isaw it. I don't think it
is any kind of seminal genre movie, so...
> Science Fiction:
>
> Serenity
> --- One of the best-written space operas ever made. You don't have to
> have seen the TV show it was based on to follow the story: it's
> completely self-contained. It also sports some of the best dialogue
> ever written, and easily one of the most quotable SF films since
> Aliens.
I love Serenity; it very nearly made my own list. Definitely the best
SF movie since Matrix Reloaded. Hopefully we have more of that stuff to
look forward to.
> The Terminator
> --- Easily one of the best low budget independent sci-fi films ever
> made. Arnold was so perfectly cast as the killer cyborg that even when
> he was replaced by the animated/animatronic terminator, we were still
> calling it "Arnold."
>
> The Thing
> --- This is John Carpenter at the top of his game, and the film manages
> to do justice to both the short story and quite good first film made
> from it. Made in 1982, this film also previews the coming AIDs
> epidemic, something that SF excels at.
>
> Delicatessen
> --- I really enjoy this crazy post-apocalyptic flick.
>
> The Truman Show
> --- Andrew Niccol's prescient story about a guy whose whole life is the
> subject of a reality TV program is funny as well as tightly-scripted.
All these, incl. Serenity, are on the list of 125 nominees for the 25
best, so it's all up to the voters!
> Time Travel:
>
> Frequency
> --- An interesting variation on the time travel idea, and one of the
> better uses of paradox. Good amount of action, too.
I haven't seen it - it never sounded very interesting to me. But I
guess I should take a look at it.
> Superheroes:
>
> The Incredibles
> --- As far as i'm concerned, this is the ultimate superhero movie.
> Heart, character, brilliant acting and animation, an amazing score, and
> a fun story to boot.
It's on the list of nominees, and yeah, it's pretty great.
> X-Men
> --- Of all the live-action superhero flicks, this one is the best in my
> opinion.
Not counting Mystery Men, but sticking to the straight superhero genre,
I'd tend to agree. I like it a lot (much better than the sequel), but I
still don't think we've had a straight superhero movie that really,
*really* works well (not even Batman Begins). X-Men was the first that
came very close, however.
I'll probably make Unbreakable a nominee, though. It's not exactly your
typical superhero story, but it's good and it works well.
> Sky High
> --- This one is far better than its surface presentation of the
> coming-of-age story, with a lot of droll comedy and a strong wink-wink
> factor for anyone who grew up in the early 80s.
I'm a fan of Sky High, also, but I still think it could have been
better. It's great fun, but, I dunno, it's kind of too silly in places.
There's an emphasis on comedy rather than consistency - some of the
elements of the setting doesn't make much sense. But even as it is,
it's a very cool movie. (Kurt Russell in spandex, yay!! :-)
- Tue
Jack Bohn
>Jack Bohn wrote:
>> I don't know if I can come up with a full 25 films, so, borrowing
>> from your list:
>> Time After Time
>
>I'm glad someone else thinks Time After Time should be on the list! A
>lot of people haven't seen it, but it's a great and very effectively
>told movie.
Scratch that. I was thinking of Somewhere in Time. I nominate
that instead.
>
>> War of the Worlds (1953)
>
>I saw it not too long ago, and frankly wasn't terribly impressed. I
>think the definitive version is still to be made, and ought to be very
>much in the spirit of Jeff Wayne's musical version.
Speaking of Time After Time, I'd wondered if it could have had a
sequel, "The War Between the Worlds". That way it could still be
set in Victorian England. Perhaps when H.G. is getting telegrams
from Ogilvy about the Invasion the Mary Steinbergen character
thinks it's the hoax, and says to herself, "But wasn't that on
radio?"
--
-Jack
soren...@gmail.com
> sorensonian wrote:
> >Jack Bohn wrote:
> >> Time After Time
> >
> >I'm glad someone else thinks Time After Time should be on the list! A
> >lot of people haven't seen it, but it's a great and very effectively
> >told movie.
>
> Scratch that. I was thinking of Somewhere in Time. I nominate
> that instead.
Oh. Then I'm not so glad! :-( Actually, I haven't seen Somewhere In
Time yet (but I have it on a DVD somewhere, so I'll get to it before
long), and Time After Time has a higher user rating at IMDB...
> >> War of the Worlds (1953)
> >
> >I saw it not too long ago, and frankly wasn't terribly impressed. I
> >think the definitive version is still to be made, and ought to be very
> >much in the spirit of Jeff Wayne's musical version.
>
> Speaking of Time After Time, I'd wondered if it could have had a
> sequel, "The War Between the Worlds". That way it could still be
> set in Victorian England. Perhaps when H.G. is getting telegrams
> from Ogilvy about the Invasion the Mary Steinbergen character
> thinks it's the hoax, and says to herself, "But wasn't that on
> radio?"
Ah, so at least you have seen it. Yeah, well, wondering is free.
- Tue
trike
soren...@gmail.com wrote:
> trike wrote:
> > Fantasy:
> >
> > Field of Dreams
> > --- Not a huge amount of action, but I really love the warm spirit and
> > gentle comedy of this movie.
>
> Oooo - Kevin Costner on a top-25 of anything? I dunno... I hate most of
> his stuff. No Way Out and Tin Cup are the only ones I'd call "good",
> but they're not genre movies. I confess I don't remember much from
> Field of Dreams - it's been many years since Isaw it. I don't think it
> is any kind of seminal genre movie, so...
I'm rather perplexed that you think Tin Cup is better than Field of
Dreams. I mean, the line, "Did he have a bat named Rosebud?" is enough
to garner a star by itself.
> > Science Fiction:
> >
> > Serenity
> > --- One of the best-written space operas ever made. You don't have to
> > have seen the TV show it was based on to follow the story: it's
> > completely self-contained. It also sports some of the best dialogue
> > ever written, and easily one of the most quotable SF films since
> > Aliens.
>
> I love Serenity; it very nearly made my own list. Definitely the best
> SF movie since Matrix Reloaded. Hopefully we have more of that stuff to
> look forward to.
Did you just say Matrix Reloaded was a good film? And equated it with
Serenity? I think my head just imploded.
Serenity is up there with Aliens and Forbidden Planet.
Matrix Reloaded is down there with The Core and Event Horizon.
Not even playing the same game, let alone in the same ballpark.
> > Time Travel:
> >
> > Frequency
> > --- An interesting variation on the time travel idea, and one of the
> > better uses of paradox. Good amount of action, too.
>
> I haven't seen it - it never sounded very interesting to me. But I
> guess I should take a look at it.
Maybe it's because my head imploded when I heard you praise a Matrix
sequel, but I'm confused as to how a sci-fi fan couldn't have seen one
of the better sci-fi movies of the last ten years.
Frequency is directed by Gregory Hoblit, who also helmed the masterful
Fallen. Fallen is hands down the best "demonic possession" film ever
made. (Yes, I'm including the snorefest that is the Exorcist.) By any
measure, Fallen has the coolest chase scene ever filmed. (Note that I
didn't say "car chase scene.") Not to mention the best use of a
Rolling Stones song since The Big Chill.
Doug
soren...@gmail.com
> soren...@gmail.com wrote:
> > trike wrote:
> > > Fantasy:
> > >
> > > Field of Dreams
> > > --- Not a huge amount of action, but I really love the warm spirit and
> > > gentle comedy of this movie.
> >
> > Oooo - Kevin Costner on a top-25 of anything? I dunno... I hate most of
> > his stuff. No Way Out and Tin Cup are the only ones I'd call "good",
> > but they're not genre movies. I confess I don't remember much from
> > Field of Dreams - it's been many years since Isaw it. I don't think it
> > is any kind of seminal genre movie, so...
>
> I'm rather perplexed that you think Tin Cup is better than Field of
> Dreams. I mean, the line, "Did he have a bat named Rosebud?" is enough
> to garner a star by itself.
Like I said, I don't remember much from Field of Dreams. Maybe if I
stumble across it on TV I'll give it another looksee.
> > > Science Fiction:
> > >
> > > Serenity
> > > --- One of the best-written space operas ever made. You don't have to
> > > have seen the TV show it was based on to follow the story: it's
> > > completely self-contained. It also sports some of the best dialogue
> > > ever written, and easily one of the most quotable SF films since
> > > Aliens.
> >
> > I love Serenity; it very nearly made my own list. Definitely the best
> > SF movie since Matrix Reloaded. Hopefully we have more of that stuff to
> > look forward to.
>
> Did you just say Matrix Reloaded was a good film? And equated it with
> Serenity? I think my head just imploded.
We all (well, most of us, anyway) love the first Matrix movie and hate
the last. But fans are divided about 50/50 when it comes to Reloaded. I
think it totally rocks.
> Serenity is up there with Aliens and Forbidden Planet.
Now THAT's apples and oranges...
> Matrix Reloaded is down there with The Core and Event Horizon.
The Core is a very cool movie. But of course you shouldn't take it
seriously. It doesn't take itself seriously, either. I think it's a
great pulpish modern version of Journey to the Center of the Earth; as
pulpish today as Verne's story was in his day.
> Not even playing the same game, let alone in the same ballpark.
Different strokes.
> > > Time Travel:
> > >
> > > Frequency
> > > --- An interesting variation on the time travel idea, and one of the
> > > better uses of paradox. Good amount of action, too.
> >
> > I haven't seen it - it never sounded very interesting to me. But I
> > guess I should take a look at it.
>
> Maybe it's because my head imploded when I heard you praise a Matrix
> sequel, but I'm confused as to how a sci-fi fan couldn't have seen one
> of the better sci-fi movies of the last ten years.
I'll get to it before long. It's true it has a pretty good rating on
IMDb...
> Frequency is directed by Gregory Hoblit, who also helmed the masterful
> Fallen. Fallen is hands down the best "demonic possession" film ever
> made.
Hm, another one I'll have to find... there's *always* another one....
- Tue
Daniel Tso
A boy and his dog
Liquid Sky
Twin Peaks (the pilot or Fire Walk with Me) or Mulholland Drive
The Jacket
Minority Report
What Dreams May Come
Zardoz
Outland
Existenz
Dark City
Pitch Black
The Others
Lord of the Rings
Phantasm
Hellraiser
The 6th Day
The Island
Coma
The Andromeda Strain
Altered States
Flatliners
Strange Days
I'm sure there's more if I just ponder a bit...
Christopher P. Winter
>Hello movie fans,
>
[Excellent discussion sniped]
Two opinions, one pro and one con:
SF -- "Quatermass and the Pit" (US title Five Million Years to Earth)
A very well-plotted film about a Martian spaceship discovered at the
construction site of a London underground extension. Both the scientific
investigation carried out by Quatermass and his battle against the local
bureaucracy are IMHO very plausible. This is one of the best SF films that
never gets mentioned -- which is why I evangelize for it.
SF -- "Starship Troopers"
This is one nonsensical movie. I'll give it this: it does have decent acting
and good effects. But it doesn't manage to translate Heinlein's political
philosophy to the screen well, and as for the combat scenes... Let me just
say that if I were part of a unit that used those tactics, I'd go AWOL.
My advice: Take this one off your list and put "Quatermass and the Pit" in
its place.