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?

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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)

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)

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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