WELCOME TO THE SCI-FI TOP 100!
Our second Top 100 is the greatest sci-fi movies
ever made. From 'This Island Earth' to 'Independence Day'. 'Metropolis'
to 'Minority Report'. Check it out, and if you think we're missing something,
leave us a note on our forum! Part One (100-76) is available now, and
part two will arrive soon, in the mean time, if there's anything here
that you'd like to see, then why not see if we have it in stock?
THE SCI-FI TOP 100: 100-76
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Top 100 Sci-fi Movies
100. Scanners (81)
David Cronenberg is a great visonary director, but his works tend to
be too outlandish and bleak for some. 'Scanners' is a perfect example.
Following in the wake of 'Carrie' and 'The Fury', this tale of a new
society of telepathic people is often violent, completely humourless
and, like most of Cronenberg's work, rather depressing.
Michael Ironside ('Visiting Hours') abuses his new abilities to gain
power, Patrick McGoohan ('The Prisoner') is there to stop him.
The infamous head-splatting scenes should be accredited to the infamous
Dick Smith ('The Exorcist', 'Star Wars'). At least five sequels followed.
99. Starship Troopers (97)
You'll either love or hate this never-ending parade of violence, monsters,
gore and POOR acting.
Visually, it's amazing, thanks to Phil Tibbert ('Star Wars'), but as
a piece of drama, it's amazing for different reasons.
Director Paul Verhoeven ('Robocop') rarely pulls punches, and this is
probably never been more obvious than here. It's almost as if he'd gone
to some distant warring planet, set up his camera, filmed the carnage,
packed up his camera, and shouted 'that's a wrap everybody!'.
There's little plot, but there's a shocking sense of realism about the
whole blood-soaked experience. Future Bond girl Denise Richards is amongst
the many unknowns making their acting debut, but also look out for the
always brillant (and psychotic-looking) Michael Ironside.
98. Flash Gordon (36)
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One of the best series ever made, this one set the standards
for cliffhangers for the next twenty years. Although the special effects
(including rockets on strings) and acting may appear almost laughable
today, the non-stop thrills, imaginative stories and the unforgettable
characters make this a winner.
Buster Crabbe (in his best role) excels as the title character, but
it's Frank Shannon (as Dr. Zarkov) and Charles Middleton (as Ming the
Merciless) who steal the acting creds. Middleton performance as the
dome-headed alien is one of the best portrayals of a villian ever (and
wonderfully "spoofed" by Max Von Sydow in the 1980 remake).
Two follow-up series ('FG's Trip to Mars' and 'FG Conquers the Universe')
were released in '38 and '40, and the imitations soon followed (Crabbe
himself starred in 'Buck Rogers' in '39). The 1980 remake is good for
a laugh, but concentrates to much on capturing the campy spirit of the
original, and forgets the fast-paced action which made this serial such
a stand-out.
97. Dreamscape (84)
Exciting tale of psychic Dennis Quaid ('Enemy Mine'), who has the ability
to mentally enter people's nightmares.
Scientist Max Von Sydow ('Minoroty Report') recruits Quaid to his join
his project to eliminate nightmare-related insomnia, where he meets
creepy David Patrick Kelly (the small guy from Commando).
A government conspiracy, involving sinister Christopher Plummer, is
soon uncovered by Quaid and his new girlfriend Kate Capshaw ('Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom').
Memorable dream sequences (especially a child's nightmare involving
a Lizard Man) and some great action sequences highlight this fanciful
adventure.
96. The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (57)
Based on the BBC play, this is the story of Jekyll/Hyde character of
man; the gentle, understanding intelectual side (Cushing) vs. the ruthless,
cruel and exploitational side (Forrest Tucker). The two men both seek
the legendary Yeti, both with diffent agendas.
A suprisingly thoughtful monster movie (especially for the fifties),
which turns genuinely creepy when the creatures show up.
Although one of Peter Cushing's first for THAT famous little British
Studio, this intelligent, sensitive tale was one of Hammer's last forays
into the sci-fi genre.
95. Son of Godzilla (67)
Excellent, and suprisingly sensitive addition to the long running Godzilla
series.
The big Dinosaur, taking a vacation on a Pacific island after all that
city stomping, finds time to play parent to a newly born hatchling (where
the egg has come from is never explained - surely Godzilla isn't - a
female!!! NEVER!!!!)
Anyway, DADDY teaches the young monster to breathe fire (instead of
smoke rings), and fight the bad guys (giant mantis and Spiga the Giant
Spider).
The humans, as usual, fade into insignificance next to the great (for
the period) special effects and monsters. There's more humour than usual,
and the ending is a real heart-breaker!
94. First Men in the Moon (64)
Fun adaption of the H.G. Wells helped immeasurably by the fantastic
special effects of Ray Harryhausen.
In 1899, a eccentric professor (Lionel Jeffries) and friends (including
Edward Judd) blast-off to the moon with the help of anti-gravity paint
(which they apply to there sperical metalic spaceship).
On the moon, they discover a huge array of wonderful lifeforms (brought
to life by Harryhausen's animation), including insectmen (Senenites,
as seen in George Melies 'Trip to the Moon') and a giant "moon
calf" (a caterpillar).
Produced on a relatively low budget, 'First Men in the Moon' is a shining
example of what can be achieved with a litle bit of imagination. An
English/US co-production directed by Nathan Juran.
93. Short Cicuit (86)
Heart-warming comedy which poses the old sci-fi genre
question: What makes a human?
Robot #5 has been constructed by military scientists as a new "human
replacement" war weapon, but when it's struck by lightening, it
seems to adopt human feelings, and a zany sense of humour.
A great cast, lead by Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy, compete against
Syd Mead's witty creation, who spoofs The Three Stooges, John Wayne
and John Travolta.
You know you should be vomitting from all the sentimentality and cutness,
but instead you'll find yourself amused and delighted.
92. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)
Whilst the '56 version is a timeless classic, this version is merely
excellent.
It's less a parable of the Communist regime, and more a knock at the
American way of life this time. The setting is moved to the big city
(San Francisco to be exact), and most of the 'sympathetic' characters
are actually assholes, like Sutherland's health inspector (who likes
to 'find' rat droppings in the kitchin of the restaurants he visits)
to Goldblum's as his irriatingly pretentious friend.
There's more gore than before, and the duplicates are more scary (they
make this weird screeching sound!), but on the whole, this version like
the tight script and fast pacing of the original.
Look out for Kevin McCarthy (he played the lead in the 56' version)
flag down cars, and Don Siegel (director of the original) as a cab driver.
91. Outland
In the far future, Io, the third moon of Saturn, has been colonised.
In a mining district, Federal District Marshall Sean Connery investigates
an epidemic of violence.
It turns out that that the workers are been unwittingly drugged in order
to increase their output, and when the Marshall discovers the truth,
the company sends out a group of assassins to silence him once and for
all.
Director/Screenwriter Peter Hyams has successfully taken the plot from
the classic 'High Noon' and moved events into a futuristic society,
where it's just as taut and suspenseful.
The special effects are great (clearly inspired by 'Alien') and Connery
is as reliable as usual. Like in the original western, there are frequent
references to the (slow) passage of time, as the Marshall awaits the
showdown to the death.
90. Godzilla Vs. The Thing (64)
Another outstanding addition to the long-running monster movie series.
This is the fourth time out for the G-man, and the first of the series
to make it as 'Clash of the Titans' monster bash. After confronting
Angulas and King Kong in earlier films, the fire-breathing hundred foot
mutant now battles Mothra, the titular star of the 1960 Toho Classic.
Since Mothra (who takes both the form of a Giant moth and a Catapillar)
and 'Zilla cannot roll around in the mud and generally act like professional
wrestlers (as in the previous Godzilla feature), the fight scenes are
less laughable, and overall, this is an imaginative, enjoyable piece
of hokum.
Mothra's tiny guardians also return. Godzilla and Mothra would team
up in the next entry ('Ghidorah - The Three-Headed Monster').
89. Armageddon (98)
Big-budget crowd-pleaser that's more sentimental than you'd expect from
the decade of cold serious sci-fi. Once again, the world is facing extinction
as a huge meteor is discovered hurdling thowards Earth.
It's down to deep-core oil driller Bruce Willis, and his team of hardmen
miners (Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Afflick, Steve Buscemi to name a few)
to save the entire planet from certain doom.
As if the seemingly unavoidable destruction of wasn't bad enough, the
crew endure various personnal termoils, especially when Willis' daughter
(Liv Ullman) shows up on the scene.
While hardcore sci-fi fans may dislike the soap-like drama at times
(not to mention the overly familiar theme), you do have to admire the
incredible special effects, the non-stop action, and the way director
Michael Bay can emmotionally manipulate an audience. This is the film
'Meteor' should have been.
88. Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers (56)
This would probably have been your usual run-of-the-mill,
average fifties sci-fi movie - if it wasn't for that chap Ray Harryhausen
and his wonderful special effects.
Aliens invade Earth again, but this time it's an all out attack. Washington
D.C. is completely obliterated in the attack by the bullet-headed aliens
in the classic design saucers.
Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, and Morris Ankrum are the human stars, who's
work, along with that of director Fred F. Sears, is completely overcast
by the ground-breaking work of the best special effects man of all-time.
'Independence Day' eat your heart out, it had been done some 40 years
earlier!
87. Soylent Green (73)
Anh unfaithful adaption of Harry Harrison's 'Make Room, Make Room',
portraying a very depressing glimspe of the year 2022.
The world is now smogbound and over-populated, and authorities have
found a curious way of relieving the food shortage problem.
Charlton Heston, appearing in his fourth end-of-the-world movie since
'Planet of the Apes', plays a cop invest investigating a series of murders,
who stubbles upon the horrific truth after friend Edward G. Robinson
(in his last role) dies.
An unpleasent but very well made future feature with a great exploitation
support cast: Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Whit Bissel, Leigh Taylor-Young
and Brock Peters.
86. Escape from New York (81)
John Carpenter followed the hugely successful 'Assault on Precinct
13' and 'Halloween' with this, is landmark addition to the post acopalyptic
sci-fi subgenre.
Inspired by 'Mad Max', this is an early trend-setter of the futuristic
actioner theme, so over-used in the 80s.This time, Manhatten (in the
year of 1997) has been turned into a maximum security prison.
Warden Lee Van Cleef hires tough-guy inmate Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell,
sporting an eye-patch) to rescue kidnapped president Donlad Pleasence.
The strengths here are in the great action sequences and superior characterisations,
thanks to a wonderful supporting cast including Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest
Borgnine, Issace Hayes, Henry Dean Stanton and Season Hubley. Just don't
expect laughs. 'Escape from L.A.' followed in 1996.
85. Total Recall (90)
Another edition to Schwarzenegger's HSF CV, this non-stop actioner has
more original ideas and memorable scenes that a dozen over 90's sci-fi
movies.
Arnie plays a bored family man in the year 2084, whose past former life
as a government agent has been wiped from his mind by his former employers.
When he finds out the truth, it seems everybody is out to silence him...even
his wife (Sharon Stone)!
Now Arnie's on the run, and heads for a colony on Mars to foil the evil
plans of another genre regular, Michael Ironside.
It's similar to Arnie's '87 'Running Man', but better in every way.
Including many unforgettable mutants (inlcuding the woman with three
breasts), the silly robot-woman-disguise, and, of course, the eye-pooping
opening on Mars.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven ('Robocop', 'Basic Instinct'), who's never
been afraid of using SSV (that's Sex, Swearing and Violence) to the
extremes to enhance his movies.
84. Puppet Masters (94)
One of the better alien invasion movies from the latter
part of the 20th Century is this superb adoption of the Robert A. Heinlein
novel.
Donald Sutherland, as the chief of the Office of Scientific Intellgence,
is called upon to rescue Ambrose, Iowa from an invasion of mind-controlling
jelly-like aliens.
This Candian flick, directed by Stuart Orme, pre-dates 'Independence
Day', but in truth it's closer to 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.
Fine performances, good SFX, a tight script and an almost tangable air
of paranoia make this required viewing.
83. Tremors (89)
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Pay attention Jim Wynorski and Fred Olen Ray...this is
how to make a 50's style monster movie.
It's the perfect blend between the tried and tested formula (teenagers
in trouble, nobody believes (understands) them, "they'll be sorry!")
of monster movies and state-of-the-art special effects.
Kevin Bacon stars as the hero battling giant worm-like creatures that
burrow under the earth and pick off human victims whenever they feel
peckish.
Funny, scary, silly, believable, exciting, and witty, this movie works
so well, you'll wonder how so many other filmmakers get the formula
so seriously wrong.
82. Dark Star (72)
An amusing '2001' spoof that started life as a University project. The
creative minds behind this cult favourite are no other than John Carpenter
('Halloween', 'The Thing' and 'Escape from New York') and Dan O'Bannon
(writer of 'Alien').
Astronauts fight boredom, aliens and a malfunctioning computer (in that
order) while on a life-long mission to destroy unstable suns that might
threaten Earth.
Outstanding special effects are mixed with delibrately bad ones (most
noticably a beach ball alien); most of the gags are of a visual nature.
It's not exactly a laugh a minute, but it's always interesting, not
bad for a film with a budget of only $60,000!
81. Alien: Resurrection (97)
After the disappointment of 'Alien 3', it's nice to see the series return
to the thrill and spills and non-stop violence that made the first two
in the series so memorable.
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is cloned (after she died in the last film)
and is now stronger and meaner than ever, since she's had alien DNA
inplanted into her make-up.
So she leads a new crew (including Wynona Ryder and HSF regular Brad
Dourif) to Space Station Auriga 200 to do battle with the vicious E.T.s.
There's so real grotesque creations here, and the wierdest mother/son
relationship you'll ever see.
There's no niceties on display here, and an underwater sequence is a
real high-point. A good edition to one of the most successful sci-fi
francises ever.
80. Revenge of the Creature (55)
Unexpectedly brillant sequel to 'Creature from the Black Lagoon', which
sees our scaly friend captured and put on shown in Sea World, Florida.
Naturally, he escapes causing maximum mayhem and excitement. Only this
time, Creature has a real opponent - 50s Sci-fi legend John Agar!
The ultimate 50s monster movie director Jack Arnold returns to take
the reigns, there's the mightly impressive Gill-man costume, and an
early performance from Clint Eastwood!
Originally produced in 3-D, one more sequel 'The Creature Walks Among
Us', was released in '56.
79. Testament (83)
Intense post-apocalyptic message film, this stunning film manages to
have impact without the use of blood, gore or vast devastation.
It's the tale of an American mother (Jane Alexander) and her four children
attempting to survive in the aftermath of nuclear war, trying to keep
civilised whilst the world around them lose their heads.
A heart-wrenching drama, and as potent an antiwar film as you're likely
to see. Directed by Lynne Littman and based on a short story by Carol
Amen, who says she was influence to write this after a vision.
78. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (82)
A vast improvement over the first in the series. This
has more action in the first ten minutes than the first movie had in
two hours.
Even though, it's still a bit too talky, but the great interplay between
Kirk, Spock and McCoy saves the day. Richard Montalban rerises the role
he first played in 1967 as Kahn, who seeks revenge on the Enterprisers.
Aside from the usual cast (Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, De Forest
Kelley etc), it's also interesting to see Kirstie Alley as a Vulcan.
The famous ending is a tear-jerker, and insured success at the box office.
77. The Black Hole (79)
In the wake of 'Star Wars' came this, which is effective 'Twenty Thousand
Leagues into Space'. A huge roster of stars and special effects experts
were hired by Disney to produce this suprisingly dark "family film".
Maximillian Schell plays the Captain Nemo role, here called Hans Reinhardt,
whose ship 'Cygnus' is occupied by zombies and killer robots (including
'Max').
Crew from another space probe, 'The Palomino', (including Anthony Hopkins,
Ernest Borgnine, Yvette Mimieux and two cute robots voiced by Slim Pickens
and Roddy McDowall) board 'The Cygnus' to warn Reinhardt that his ship
rest on the edge of a black hole.
The superior special effects and impressive sets highlight this fun
space opera, but the McDowall/Pickens robots may be to sickly for some.
76. I Married a Monster from Outer Space (58)
As with some many great 50's sci-fi's, this film has an allegorical
plot: Are the people around us exactly what they seem?
In the age of the McCathy witchhunts, this could be a reference to Communism
(aren't all 50's films with 'aliens' in?), or is the old 'Men are from
Mars, Women are fom Venus' theme?
The answer, of course, is 'Who Cares?', as this is another fun cheapie
with a self-explanitory title. Tom Tryon is duplicated by aliens after
he knock one over in his car.
Gloria Talbot is the beau who marries the disguised beast. A feminist
take of the 'Body Snatcher' theme.
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