Now that I fulfilled my promise of reviewing Stephen King's 'The Mist' (see my post from yesterday), it's time for me to keep up my end of the bargain. I'm going to list my top 10 favorite SciFi movies of all time (5 today and 5 tomorrow). As is always the case when you go about putting a list together, there are several other movies that I would have loved to have thrown in, but couldn't - simply because of the self-imposed ten movie rule limit. With that said, a couple great movies that didn't quite make the cut are: '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Don't hate me for not including these great movies - remember, it's all subjective.
Here's my list in no particular order:
1. 'Dune' 1984: I thought Frank Herbert's book was great and I thought David Lynch's visualization of the book was equally as great. I know a lot of people say that you can't fully understand or appreciate the movie without having read the book first. To that - I say balderdash. True some elements are different or missing, but to say that you had to read the book to enjoy this great flick - are you kidd'en me! For me, this was and still is one of the best SciFi movies of all time. Of course I'm also a big fan of prophecy based storylines.
2. 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' 1951: This movie was groundbreaking. Not only did it depict (for the 1st time that I'm aware of) an alien life-force as good and moral, it presented the United States / World as anything but good or moral. It exposed our fears and ignorance of things we don't understand. It was a movie about peace, made on the heels of WWII when we were still feeling pretty high and mighty of our lofty victory. Okay! off my soapbox. This is a really good movie, that while low on typical genre conflict - still managed to raise the hairs on my neck (speaking of when Klaatu stopped all power).
3. 'Starman' 1984: I listed this movie next because you can basically take everything I said above about 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' and apply it here. Great movie by one of my favorites, John Carpenter. If this movie didn't choke you up a little bit at the end - then you're the alien. Besides Karen Allen looked just so darn cute. But seriously, this movie probably 'moved' me more than any other SciFi flick. Love it!
4. 'War of the Worlds' 1953: You can't have a list of great SciFi movies without including the original, the one that started it all, the one that's been copied, robbed and remade more than any other SciFi flick - the truly great 'War of the Worlds'. H.G. Wells was a master story teller and Byron Haskin did a wonderful job of giving life to that story. This movie has it all. It's scary, realistic (special effects way ahead of its time) and in the end offers hope that something greater than us, is watching over us.
5. 'The Chronicles of Riddick' 2004: I know you're about to explode! But I had to shake it up. This in one of my favorite recent SciFi movies. The cast is superb especially Colm Feore (who I told you about in 'Storm of the Century') and of course Vin Diesel, but there was no lack of talent in any of the roles. This also falls along the prophecy storyline that I mentioned above liking so much. In the movies that didn't quite make the cut I could have also included the prequel to this movie 'Pitch Black' - another great mixture of horror and SciFi. This movie has one of those great lasting lines that you tend to never forget "Are you with me Kyra?" If you haven't given it a try, do yourself a favor.
There are the first 5 of my list of 10. Check back tomorrow to see if your favorite made the list on the back end. Until then, look to the stars. J/W
