The Wired Top Twenty Sci-Fi Movies

blamanj writes "The June issue of Wired includes a list of the top 20 Sci-Fi movies, based on ranking a combination of Adrenaline, Vision, and Precision. Somehow, they came up with (yawn) Gattaca as the #2 SF movie of all time!?! Their rating system was based on one by Josh Calder, who also uses a three-point (Futurism, Entertainment, Plausibility) system, and has the same movie at #2, BTW. Clearly, I think using such a scale gives odd results, but what if it were weighted differently, e.g., Vision is worth 2x Adrenaline, would it be a better list? And, more importantly, what are the real top 20 films? And wouldn't that list have to include Forbidden Planet?"

Comments

What a load of...

[Mwongozi]

IMDB have a much better weighted ranking system based on user votes. Their top Sci-Fi movies are:

1 Star Wars (1977) 8.7/10 (77559 votes)
2 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 8.7/10 (31705 votes)
3 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 8.6/10 (58919 votes)
4 Matrix, The (1999) 8.3/10 (69300 votes)
5 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 8.3/10 (36486 votes)
6 Metropolis (1927) 8.2/10 (5187 votes)
7 Donnie Darko (2001) 8.2/10 (3590 votes)
8 Alien (1979) 8.2/10 (32155 votes)
9 Clockwork Orange, A (1971) 8.2/10 (32662 votes)
10 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) 8.2/10 (11199 votes)
11 Blade Runner (1982) 8.1/10 (42768 votes)
12 Spider-Man (2002) 8.1/10 (10504 votes)
13 Aliens (1986) 8.1/10 (35399 votes)
14 Iron Giant, The (1999) 8.0/10 (6877 votes)
15 Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) 8.0/10 (44823 votes)
16 Abre los ojos (1997) 7.9/10 (2873 votes)
17 Brazil (1985) 7.9/10 (17398 votes)
18 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 7.9/10 (39419 votes)
19 Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) 7.9/10 (5131 votes)
20 Back to the Future (1985) 7.8/10 (34951 votes)

Gattaca *is* one of the best sci-fi movies

[seldolivaw]

Not if you're looking for action and explosions, no. But 2001 is clearly a brilliant SF movie, and it's got no action at all. If action is what you want, then choose the best action movie of all time -- but for pure SF, Gattaca is definitely up there.

And the fact that Ethan Hawke and Jude Law are total hotties is neither here nor there, obviously :-)

Brazil Underrated

[stinkydog]

Given today's headlines, Brazil seems to be the truest version of the future. From terrorism to coporate abuse of the population to environmental damage , Terry Gilliam has hit the nail on the head. Even the smaller details like abuse of the phone system , rouge technicians bucking the establishment , and lousy technical support ring true.

(Leans back in chair and softly hums Brazil theme song.)

SD

Re:Gattaca: Yes; Jurassic Park, etc: No

[JordanH]

• • No. Perhaps he's happy the way he is. Perhaps ALS is what has defined him as he is today... would you risk losing him? Perhaps, without ALS, he'd be flipping burgers.

    Now you're just being silly. First of all, Hawkings was already a famous scientist long before the symptoms of ALS began to appear, Second, he isn't "happy the way he is" -- if you read about him, you'll find that he considered suicide when he first realized he had ALS, and in fact many people with ALS do kill themselves. Thirdly, there is no evidence that people with ALS are more intelligent than normal in general.

While I agree that he's being silly, perhaps flippant :-), with his remark about Hawking and burgers, there is this article to consider.

Hawking was not really a "famous scientist" when his ALS was discovered at 21. He had just started down the path and here he clearly states that his disease gave him the perspective to focus his life to the cause of Science. Curious that in this account he doesn't mention the suicide that you say he contemplated.

Also, you'll find from his own quotes that he tries to live without regrets.

I'm concerned that Science will one day cure all of our challenges. Eliminating the schizophrenia of Michaelangelo, the autism (?) of Einstein and the deafness of Beethoven. Apparently, from your disparagement of bioethicism, you aren't concerned with this or any consequence of technological advance.

Re:Err...

[Lemmy Caution]

I disagree. Clockwork Orange addresses some classic science fiction issues: the question of free will in a technological age (hence a clockwork orange - a machine wrapped in an organic shell); the fragmentation of society into violence, intergenerational failures of communication, and the like. "Nadsat" alone is pretty cool and SF.

Most science fiction work says more about the times that create it than about the times they claim to be writing about - and in turn, can actually create the future as much as report it. Check out The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of by SF writer Thomas Disch for a funny and insightful take on the relationship between SF and society.