This morning I came across this (http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/how-many-science-fiction-movies-have-you-seen) Buzzfeed article that asks: “How many science fiction movies have you seen?”. Apparently, in my case, quite a few – but I’m sure many of you can do better than my still-respectable 151 out of 300 score. In looking over the list, I realized I watched A LOT of SF films in the 60’s and 70’s, but my love for the genre tapered off in the 80’s to the point that I now rarely see any of the big (empty) big screen features. Nope, they don’t make ’em like the used to. Or, maybe, I’m the one who’s changed.
Science fiction was an important part of my life growing, so much so that the books I read and the films I watched in those formative years influenced my career choice and, no doubt, helped shape me into the (warped) writer/person I am today. Specifically, these ten movies…
#10) ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
My love for anti-heroes and over-the-top action started with this John Carpenter classic.
#9) INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
This movie scared the crap out of the me the first time I saw it in a theater. The final shocking scene still gives me chills.
#8) A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Deeply disturbing. My favorite Kubrick film.
#7) ROLERBALL
Amid the violence and revelous tree-scorching is a smart critique of organized sports, corporations, and war.
#6) THE THING
Paranoia rules supreme in this ultimate who-can-you-trust? SF classic.
#5) THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION
Joyously bizarre, delightfully different, and just plain cool. John Lithgow is brilliant as the nefarious Dr. Emilio Lizardo.
#4) ALIEN
The movie that made SF serious – deadly serious – and launched a thousand pale imitations. But there’s nothing like the terrifying original.
#3) BLADE RUNNER
A smart, touching, incredibly atmospheric film that still blows the socks off any scifi movie that has come out in the last ten years.
#2) STAR WARS
I saw it 11 times in the first year of its release. A helluva a fun ride. And even though the wheels came off in the third movie (the second those ewoks hit the screen), and then the whole thing crashed and burned in later instalments, I still have fond memories of the original.
#1) PLANET OF THE APES
Every time it (or the subsequent movies in the series) would air, I would watch, even if it meant going to bed at 8:00 p.m. so that I could wake up again at 11:30 p.m. to re-watch it on a school night. I had the comic books, the action figures, even the board game (and still do!). I love this movie and this series, so much so that I consider Tim Burton’s offensively bad remake one of the worst cinematic crimes ever perpetrated.
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