Best of AFI's top Sports movies: Rocky
Best of AFI's top Sci-Fi movies: ???
lamphorn
09-30-08, 08:50 PM
This was really tough for me. I narrowed it down to Blade Runner and 2001 and ultimately went with 2001... but in a different moment I might have gone for Blade Runner. Both are towering achievements.
I know this list was compiled by AFI, but does anyone else find it weird that they count E.T. and Star Wars as science fiction? I would argue that they're wonderful fantasy stories but have no element of science fiction in them. Back to the Future and Alien are also questionable examples of "science fiction" in my opinion.
NoirFan
09-30-08, 09:07 PM
I know this list was compiled by AFI, but does anyone else find it weird that they count E.T. and Star Wars as science fiction?
I find A Clockwork Orange's inclusion a bigger stretch as Sci-Fi than either one of those. My vote was for 2001.
lamphorn
09-30-08, 09:18 PM
I find A Clockwork Orange's inclusion a bigger stretch as Sci-Fi than either one of those. My vote was for 2001.
I thought about that one but can justify it to a certain extent because it deals with the ethical dilemma that can arise with the technology of mind/behavior alteration.
hasslein
09-30-08, 09:23 PM
Once again AFI left off the best in the category IMHO. Sports - Slap Shot, Sci- Fi - Planet of the Apes
dtcarson
09-30-08, 10:06 PM
A Clockwork Orange is at least as much science fiction as Star Wars: ANH, if not more.
Ray Bradbury
"Science fiction is really sociological studies of the future, things that the writer believes are going to happen by putting two and two together."
Isaac Asimov
"Modern science fiction is the only form of literature that consistently considers the nature of the changes that face us, the possible consequences, and the possible solutions. That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings"
John W. Campbell, Jr.
"The major distinction between fantasy and science fiction is, simply, that science fiction uses one, or a very, very few new postulates, and develops the rigidly consistent logical consequences of these limited postulates. Fantasy makes its rules as it goes along...The basic nature of fantasy is "The only rule is, make up a new rule any time you need one!" The basic rule of science fiction is "Set up a basic proposition--then develop its consistent, logical consequences.""
I knew I had read the "one (or few) ifs, and presenting effects of those" definition somewhere, I thought it was Asimov, but I'll take Campbell's word for it.
There are many science fiction aficionados who believe Star Wars is not science fiction at all. However, Hollywood seems to think spaceships = scifi.
Actually the "one if" idea is espoused by many SF personalities, especially golden age and earlier: Groff Conklin, Heinlein, Wolleheiim.
Reading many of those quotes, I'm more strongly calling ACO "science fiction". Even apart from the "one if", the more expansive definition is "fiction that presents the effects on society of certain scientific advances", and ACO definitely presents that.
PopcornTreeCt
09-30-08, 10:07 PM
Blade Runner
inri222
09-30-08, 10:14 PM
Since Solaris is not there, I'll go with 2001
No Metropolis in the top 10?????????????????
WTF
PopcornTreeCt
09-30-08, 10:15 PM
I'll go with 2001
No Metropolis in the top 10?????????????????
WTF
It's American films. Tarkovsky's Solaris should be on there but it's not.
Ginwen
09-30-08, 10:22 PM
I like A Clockwork Orange (which I've always considered to be Science Fiction, and first saw at a Science Fiction Convention in the late 70's) best of those movies.
vcuram
09-30-08, 10:26 PM
2001 and Blade Runner >>>>>>>> everything else on that list, especially Star Wars, ET, T2, and BTTF, which all blow like the solar wind.
JumpCutz
09-30-08, 10:44 PM
2001 by a light year. It is Kubrick's finest hour.
Rockmjd23
10-01-08, 12:01 AM
It's American films.
A Clockwork Orange is not an American film.
Daytripper
10-01-08, 12:10 AM
For me, THE best sci-fi film is a tie between "Blade Runner" and "Alien". And a close second is "Close Encounters".
inri222
10-01-08, 12:10 AM
A Clockwork Orange is not an American film.
Actually it is English language films.
Which I comepletely forgot when I mentioned Metropolis.
Decker
10-01-08, 02:14 AM
2001 edging out Alien and Blade Runner.
coli
10-01-08, 06:10 AM
Original Star Wars is my favorite movie of all-time, but Back to the Future is a close second.
Yakuza Bengoshi
10-01-08, 09:11 AM
Since Solaris is not there, I'll go with 2001
Ditto.
Palaver
10-01-08, 09:33 AM
Going with Star Wars. I know it's not the "best" film to chose from, but the 10 year old in me won't let me vote any other way.
Sean O'Hara
10-01-08, 10:17 AM
Typical nonsensical AFI list -- Star Trek II is superior to any of the Star Wars films, and Forbidden Planet deserves a spot more than The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Charlie Goose
10-01-08, 10:30 AM
From that list, it's BttF easily.
JOE29
10-01-08, 10:54 AM
Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( 1977 ) Donald Sutherland. was my choice.
I bought A clockwork Orange last week and it was ok but didn't make the cut in my book.
Larry C.
10-01-08, 11:12 AM
2001 here.
Doughboy
10-01-08, 11:24 AM
2001. Not my favorite from that list, but arguably the finest and most important sci-fi movie ever made.
KillerCannibal
10-01-08, 11:47 AM
I picked the film from that list that I most enjoy, and that is A Clockwork Orange.
bunkaroo
10-01-08, 12:00 PM
My head says the Kubrick's or Blade Runner, but my heart says Star Wars.
chris_sc77
10-01-08, 03:38 PM
My favorite to least favorite of these 10.
1.Terminator 2: Judgment Day
2. A Clockwork Orange
3. Alien
4. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
5. Blade Runner
6. The Day the Earth Stood Still
7. Back to the Future
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
10. E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial
scott1598
10-01-08, 03:46 PM
i'm not saying SW is the best acted story, but it remains one of the most enjoyable, ahead of it's time marvels to this day.
Nick Danger
10-01-08, 03:59 PM
2001.
Nick Danger
10-01-08, 04:01 PM
I'm glad to see that smarmy fairy tale, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, is bringing up the rear.
lamphorn
10-01-08, 04:54 PM
I would still say that I love Star Wars, but it is no more "science fiction" than Lord of the Rings is a historical epic. It's a mythological fantasy tale.
MaxMFP
10-01-08, 05:29 PM
Sad that Star Wars is actully beating 2001 and Blade Runner. The move isn't even science-fiction people
NoirFan
10-01-08, 06:01 PM
Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( 1977 ) Donald Sutherland. was my choice.
Is the AFI referring to the 1956 or the 1977 version?
It's American films.
Which is why the AFI's lists are always a joke.
wm lopez
10-01-08, 06:04 PM
Wow, no love for E.T.
And the dvds never sold good too.
I guess that movie is not going to be one of those classics like THE WIZARD OF OZ.
lamphorn
10-01-08, 06:49 PM
Which is why the AFI's lists are always a joke.
Um... it IS called the American Film Institute.
coli
10-02-08, 07:09 AM
Wow, no love for E.T.
And the dvds never sold good too.
I guess that movie is not going to be one of those classics like THE WIZARD OF OZ.
I disagree with that, because ET is still a great movie, but I think it is a movie seen through a childs eye, and all of us here are adults that probably enjoy a movie more that appeals to us at our age like Bladerunner, Star Wars, 2001, etc. Just because ET isnt getting any votes, doesn't mean its not a great movie that still holds up today, the competition on this list is pretty good.
MaxMFP
10-02-08, 09:21 AM
Wow, no love for E.T.
And the dvds never sold good too.
I guess that movie is not going to be one of those classics like THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Um, E.T. is already a classic
Matt Millheiser
10-02-08, 05:30 PM
STAR WARS and ET shouldn't even be on the list. The former is space opera, the latter is child's fable. Both are fantasy.
If anything, they should be replaced with BRAZIL and DARK CITY.
My vote went to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but for me that goes without saying. Following up close are Blade Runner and A Clockwork Orange.
But BRAZIL is better than all of them!
NoirFan
10-02-08, 05:44 PM
Where's The Incredible Shrinking Man? I'd definitely rate that above E.T., The Day the Earth Stood Still and Back to the Future.
chris_sc77
10-02-08, 05:55 PM
E.T. needs to be off of that list. Simple as that. It's Spielberg's weakest sci-fi film IMO.
Minority Report is 1000 times better and A.I. is about 100 times better. Close Encounters and War of the Worlds are also better. I never understood the love for E.T. Even as a child when I would watch it it was always underwhelming.
MaxMFP
10-03-08, 10:39 PM
It's Spielberg's weakest sci-fi film IMO.
No. That would be War of the Worlds.
rw2516
10-04-08, 07:54 AM
No. That would be War of the Worlds.
The 1953 version is better than some on that list.
B5Erik
10-04-08, 12:21 PM
No Forbidden Planet???
No The War of the Worlds (1953)???
No Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan???
No Total Recall???
No Aliens???
That list blows. Who voted on that list, anyway? They're all good to great movies, but the omissions are glaring.
Buy: