AFI Top Ten Science Fiction Movies

[MikeBSG]

The AFI recently posted a list of top 10 Science Fiction Movies:

1) 2001 a Space Odyssey
2) Star Wars (1977)
3) E. T.
4) A Clockwork Orange
5) The Day the Earth Stood Still
6) Blade Runner
7) Alien
Terminator 2
9) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
10) Back to the Future

Perhaps the biggest surprise to me is that Terminator 2 is there and not the original Terminator. That movie was made with grit and imagination. T2, while very good, was made with a heck of a lot more money.

[cinemalover]

2001=grossly overrated.

How this film continues to dominate these lists is beyond me. The list as a whole is fairly unimaginative.

[jdb1]

I've wondered about this since these AFI listings started to be generally circulated. Is it known who exactly is compiling these lists? Is it a panel of knowledgeable film scholars/critics/makers, or is it an assignment given to some staff writer, who just asks his pals and his mom which movies they like?

Remember some years ago some august authority put out a list of the greatest -- was it novels, or just books? -- of all time, and an opus called "Zuleika Dobson" made the list? I even bought a second-hand copy of that book to see what it was all about (a sort of English Zelda Fitzgerald-like party girl making trouble at Oxford, pre WWI). After I finished the book, which wasn't terrible, by the way, only completely unextraordinary, my reaction was "??????????????"

[mrsl]

I'm going to take a whack because this is one of my favorite genres, after westerns. These are not in special order.

1. Them
2. The Thing from Outer Space
3. The Time Machine (original - Rod Taylor)
4. Stargate - the movie
5. Startrek - The Revenge of Kahn
6. The Day the Earth Stood Still
7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
8. Time After Time
9. E.T.
10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind.


I like a lot of the early 1950 movies because they are the grand-daddies of all future sci-fi films. Numbers 1,2,6, and 7 were all ground-breakers, but most following sci-fi features used at least some little part of them.

i just loved all the action and adventure of my #5 Star Trek movie about Kahn. That movie never was dull, it kept coming at you with no breaks.
#4 was unique in tying together the ancient Egyptians and space travelers, not to mention the fact that it spawned an eleven year TV serial. As for #8, following Jack the Ripper through time also was a unique idea.

As for E.T. and Close Encounters, I just believe they both belong on any sci-fi list.

Anne

[srowley75]

I've wondered about this since these AFI listings started to be generally circulated. Is it known who exactly is compiling these lists? Is it a panel of knowledgeable film scholars/critics/makers, or is it an assignment given to some staff writer, who just asks his pals and his mom which movies they like?

From what I've read, I've gotten the impression that the AFI could be described as the dumbed-down version of Sight and Sound. I believe AFI claims to poll not only directors, but also other industry personnel (critics, actors) about the best in American film (and I still often wonder what qualifies as an "American" film - made in the U.S.? by an American company? only English-language? starring or directed by Americans? I see potential problems with all of those...).

But once you've encoutered these lists for a few years in a row, you begin to suspect that anyone with a basic knowledge of film could probably compile one without even glancing at the IMDB page. The ones that are/have been generally labeled "greatly great" in whatever genre occupy the top slots and the popular titles (award winners, crowd faves) make up the lower tier. And of course, make sure you get a relatively even mix of contemporary and classic.

-Stephen