Space.com's Top 10 Space Movies of All Time

Comatose51 writes "Space.com has posted a Top 10 Space Movies of All Time list based on reader ratings on each movie. Apollo 13 is currently the #1 movie, followed by Star Trek: First Contact at #2, and Wrath of Khan at #3. I was surprised by Apollo 13 at #1, since I initially equated space movies with sci-fi. However, I don't disagree with it. What do other Slashdotters think, or suggest as good space movies?"

Comments

Serenity!

[PsychicX]

I think Serenity hasn't been around long enough to sink in to the culture properly, but god, such a good movie. Firefly was a good series too.

Re:Serenity!

[BrynM]

I think Serenity hasn't been around long enough to sink in to the culture properly, but god, such a good movie. Firefly was a good series too.

I have a pair of friends (BF/GF unit) that aren't into sci-fi at all. She is arguably the least sci-fi person I have known in a long time. She admits to seeing "that trek thing" but didn't like it. He's just not interested usually.

First the boyfriend saw a couple of episodes of Firefly with me (I have the DVDs) and got really exited to see Serenity. I took them both. The very next day they borrowed my DVD set and watched all of Firefly for the next week.

I'm sure there of hundreds of stories like mine. Give that movie/series to pretty much anyone and I'll bet they like it. It's got a broad appeal and no weird looking costumes. Everyone can identify with working hard (even if what you do is nefarious) and having to defend it in some way. That's it's essence. Within 2-5 years it will be a landmark film, IMHO.

Order...

[The Madd Rapper]

First Contact before Empire Strikes Back? I liked them both, but c'mon now. Overall I think the top ten are solid choices, but the order leaves a little to be desired.

Since it doesn't have to be science fiction

[jbrader]

Then I nominate "The Right Stuff". Also I think this list is a little too Star Trek heavy (but I'm probably in the minority on that).

The list compilers are on drugs.

[Mateito]

They missed Airplane II. Easily the best space movie EVER!

No 5th Element??

[Tmack]

Futuristic with lots of space stuff in it (you know, the whole dark planet, FTL travel to other planets, etc). A Great Sci-Fi movie with excellent scene changes and decent plot (even brief nudity), and even though one of the main characters is Bruce Willis, it still came out great IMHO, it just didnt do well in the theaters (probably due to lack of publicity, I only remember a few commercials for it).

Tm

iMDB's verdict

[ishnaf]

Trawling throught the iMDB top 250 filmsi got this list:

1. Star Wars 4
2. Star wars 5
3. Alien
4. Aliens (the sequel to Aliens)
5. 2001: A Space Oddysey
6. Blade Runner (well if Contact is on the list, why not this?)
7. Star Wars 6
8. Star Wars 3
9. Planet of the Apes (1968 version)

Yes, i've gone against convention and used digits not roman numerals for the Star Wars films. I'd be interested to see are larger list - Star Wars/Trek domaination makes it seem more like a top 5.

I want real astronomy in my space movies

[btempleton]

I thought Serenenity was a very good movie, which leaves me more annoyed that like effectively all hollywood SF movies, it had no real concept of astronomy, how really far it is between planets in a solar system. (Or how vastly far it is in a galaxy, which Firefly sometimes declared to be its setting.)

A solar system is not like a western frontier where you meet other ships along the trail. And a solar system with hundreds of moons around many planets will have, depending on the place in the orbit, immense vast distances between planets on opposite sides of the star, and relatively short ones between moons, but still a vast void on all trips. You are not going to happen to run into Reaver ships.

Now as I said, most shows get this really wrong. To some extent the shows with FTL get it "better" even though FTL is itself fantasy, at least you get a reason to not treat the differences as so vast. Hyperspace jumps, another fantasy, are even better.

2001 got space right. Apollo 13 did (duh.) Few other films and very few TV shows ever did.

Re:Gattaca!

[h4rm0ny]

It should have been there on the list. 'Contact' sucks, really, except for '22 hours of static on the tape'.

Seeing as this whole "news" item is just an invitation for a flamefest anyway, I would rate Contact as easily the best of the ten films listed. It has the most interesting and original premise in it, it has the most coherent internal logic, it has the strongest basis in science (and yes - I am aware of the ending), it is the best acted (*cough*Star Wars / Star Trek*cough*), and it has the strongest emotional engagement with the characters.

If Aliens rather than Alien was in the list, I might give that equal place for different reasons - it's just Hellishly good fun ("They cut the power? How could they cut the power?"). Alien is also very good, but not as good as Contact.

I haven't seen Apollo-13 though, because Tom Hanks disturbs me. He looks like a serial killer.

Re:Serenity

[shawb]

Fox did the same thing to Arrested Development.

Fox: We're going to cancel your show because there wasn't enough viewership this season.

Arrested Development: But you didn't actually air anything, we were co-opted by baseball, a sport which nobody watches anyways.

Fox: And that is our problem how?

Fox has a long history of screwing with the schedule of a potentially great show and then cancelling it because the ratings drop. Firefly, Arrested Development, Futurama, The Critic, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr, and they keep trying to drop Family Guy. On the other end, they keep showing tripe like MadTV (never saw anything funny on there, just horrible acting, mugging for the camera, and flat out insulting situations) and Malcolm in the Middle. Somewhere in the middle they let series that were once good run way longer than they should after all the creativity is gone and the shark has been jumped over and over: Married With Children, Simpsons, That 70's show, 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210, arguably the X-files, arguably King of the Hill.

On the other hand, they are the only network to give a lot of programming a chance that other networks wouldn't have touched... everything I mentioned above plus Boston Public, Dark Angel, Get a Life, Herman's Head, Normal Ohio, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, etc etc etc (not claiming the quality of these, but that other broadcasters probably wouldn't have touched them.) Also, I'll give Fox credit for not starting the whole reality TV thing (That's MTV's fault, or CBS bringing Survivor in) but when they do bite on it, it's horrid, soulless stuff like Trading Spouses, Renovate my Family, The Simple Life and The Swan (the Swan being possibly one of the most evil shows on. Take a bunch of ugly to average looking women with low self esteem. Give them makeovers, plastic surgery, wardrobe changes, etc. Finally, tell all but one of them that they're still not good enough. Vile and disgusting. Not to mention that usually once you get plastic surgery, after a couple years you grow out of it and need to get it again otherwise you look worse than you otherwise would have.)