What makes "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" to you?

Popular Mechanics recently released a list of The 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies—As Chosen By Scientists.  I shared it on my Facebook page, of course.  And as tends to happen, a conversation broke out among my friends pointing out films that were omitted from the list and those that should have been.  Basically, the sort of thing you'd expect to happen when anyone makes a list of the 10 best anything.

But it got me thinking... what makes "The Best Sci-Fi movies"?  Surely if there can be a *best*, you  must first define the criteria by which the things are judged.  So I thought I would set down what makes "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" to me.

1) It has to be be art, damn it!

That seems pretty obvious, right?   Whether it's the gorgeous cinematography in Close Encounters of the Third Kind or the incredible production design that built  Metropolis, "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" should be able to stand up against the artistry any other genre.


2) It should be technically innovative.

From Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon to Alfonso Cuarón immersive Gravity, sci-fi  movies have pushed the bounds of what can be done in the medium of film for over 100 years. And that's something to be proud of, I think.  To be called "The Best", a sci-fi movie needs to "wow" the audience and give them something that has never been seen before.

3) It needs to have something to say.

I'm sorry to all of the space cowboys and star princesses out there, but sci-fi has always been an amazing vehicle to examine the human condition.  War? Religion? Class? Politics? All are fair game.  "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" should give you something to chew on that goes deeper than the laser blasters and witty one-liners.

4) It has to be fun!
You can also substitute "exciting", "engaging", or "something that won't cause your friends to murder you for having subjected them to it."  Unfortunately, that's where films like Star Trek: The Motion Picture and nerd-favorite 2001: A Space Odyssey suffer in comparison to the likes of Star Wars (1977) or Star Trek (2009).  While we geeks may love to spend several ponderous hours watching characters gape in awe at stunning visual effects sequences and contemplate the meaning of existence while slow classical music inevitably thrums in the background, films of that type have very limited cross-over appeal.  And shouldn't that be the point?  Why make a movie at all if next to no one wants to watch it?  And what right do we have to complain about the success of Duck Dynasty or the latest romcom  if the movies we feel are more deserving of that success are... you know... freaking boring?  Ultimately, "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" should be accessible to all comers, whether they be Academy Award judges or a group of friends gathered around the tube with  pizza and beer on a  Friday night.

So, can any sci-fi movies meet each of these criteria?  I would humbly suggest that Planet of the Apes (1968) excels in each category.   Can your favorite sci-fi movies say the same?  And what do you make of my list?  Did I leave something off?  Or should I have?

What makes a "The Best Sci-Fi Movies" to you?

This is my first attempt at recreating 1960's televison visual effects with $5 worth of craft supplies. The results are actually promising!

If you've never seen "The Tholian Web" (shame on you, btw) but this is what I'm going for... http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Loskene

Being a grown-up kinda sucks.

I remember when I was a kid- I used to spend my time writing stories, drawing cartoons, creating my own board games and toys.  When my parents couldn't afford to buy a Ninja Turtles' lair, I built my own.  If wanted a robot to play with, I created one out of the junk in my grandmother's hall closet.  I brought my sister's toys to life and gave them all distinct personalities, I dreamt up monsters, and had adventures through space and time.  You may not know this, but I was the creator of the comics "Fungi and the Frog Force" and "Mothman." I was the author of "Time Flux" and "The Beast" (both of which won Young Author's Fair Awards).  I could do anything in those days and  I just knew that when I grew up I'd become a filmmaker or a cartoonist or a writer or a puppeteer... or maybe all of those things.  What ever happened to that kid?  Is that really him, sitting at a desk everyday and staring at numbers on a computer screen that elicit no emotional reaction whatsoever?   I don't think so.

The purpose of this blog is to find that kid again.  Over the past few years I've managed to beat back the mundanity of my day-to-day life a bit and I've started to pursue my dreams.  It's time to take it further.  I don't just want to do a few of the things I've always longed to do- I want to do them all!  I live in an age where the tools to create anything I want and show it to the world are right at my fingers- it's time to do exactly that.

-Kelso

I don't care if they're old and fat!

This is an idea from back in 2008 which I dusted off and updated during the Smith era.   I thought I would dig it out and repost it here now that the 50th is done with.  I should say that I *loved* what Moffat did with the special.  It couldn't have been better.
 


How to make multi-Doctor anniversary special work!

With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who coming up in 2013, I’ve been thinking more and more about what they’re going to do.  I mean, it needs to be something special and epic, right?  The old tradition for Doctor Who anniversary years was to just bring back all of the old Doctors (or the ones who were available) in their classic costumes and have them team up in an adventure.  That worked pretty well in 1973 and 1983.  The Doctors were clearly a few years older than they had been on the show, but they really didn’t look that different.  But now it’s been decades since any of the classic Doctors were on television!   It might work okay for Peter or Paul, but I think it would look pretty silly if they tried to stuff poor old Tom and Colin into their old costumes again!  If these guys are to be brought back, they’re going to have to come up with a way to make it work. 

So, here’s my idea!

What I’d like to see is a “Turn Left” (or possibly Dream Lord) type situation where some alien screws with the Doctor’s personal timeline and creates several alternate (or artificial) realities in which each of the living classic Doctors never regenerated and survived into the new series- which would basically just be an excuse to recreate some of the recent episodes with the old Doctors replacing the current Doctor to see how things might have gone differently.

How much fun would it be to see Tom Baker flirting with River Song and facing down the Weeping Angels?!  Or to see Sylvester McCoy climb out of the Tardis in Amelia’s garden?  What if Colin Baker had been Craig’s lodger?   The possibilities are limitless!

Of course, midway through the story all of the alt.Doctors would realize that something is wrong, and figure out how to cross out of the artificial realities and join forces to rescue the current Doctor.  

In a story like this, they wouldn’t have to worry about the changes in the actor’s appearances, the wardrobes could be updated (if needed), and it would supply a hook for the some of the newer audience who might not know (or care) about the older Docs… as they would already be familiar with the current eps. and companions.

It would be epic to see the old guys in action again… and think this way it would work!