perfidy

Agreed. Serenity was good, but best of all time? Nah. And "Back to the [Effing] Future"? In the same ballpark as "The Terminator"?

I can't even type the response- assume I'm gesturing in such a manner that suggests, "get the fuck outta here".

I'm mildly embarrassed to admit that I never saw Serenity.

I did see the Matrix, and liked it a lot, but I'm again mildly embarrassed to admit that while I own the DVDs of all three Matrix movies, I've not taken the second or third out of their cellophane, because my life already has enough uncontrolled suckage. (If I'm misinformed about how craptacular the second and third installments in that trilogy were, I'd appreciate a heads up)

Star Wars? The original or the new ones, I wonder? While I'm busy embarrassing myself with admissions, I'll add that I've seen none of the new trilogy, as I'm still trying to scrape the notion of those fucking ewoks from Return of the Jedi out of my head.

Oh, and I agree with G - Back to the Future is to sci-fi as I am to Julius Caesar. No relation at all.

The Matrix sequels included such spentacles as a bit part for Cornell West, who left his cush gig at Harvard (after taking umbrage with Larry Summers, who siggested he do some work around the place) for a spot on Zion's governing body; and the seemingly endless slow-mo rave/orgy scene amongst the citizenry. You never such a boring orgy in your life.

As for Star Wars, just catch the last one. The other two are sort of like watching footage of the UN General Assembly, just with funnier hats.

The second and third matrix movies are not as good as the first. That being said, they are worth watching - there's some interesting bits, and good fight, chase, and special effects scenes.

Episodes I, II, and III of the Star Wars saga started off bad and got worse. Episode I is worth watching if you can mentally prepare yourself to ignore or discount the presence of Jar Jar Binks, who, it has been said, makes the Ewoks look like Shaft. The light saber duel at the end of the movie is worth the price of admission, especially if you have netflix.

Back to Future I was fun, but hardly I think in the running for best anything.

Serenity is well worth watching, even if (like me) you have never seen the tv show.

I posted my comment above while GL was posting his. He's right about the Matrix II, but I still think it's worth watching.

I cannot believe that GL thinks the third one is the best of the three. The opening scene totally lost me, and went downhill from there.

The Fifth Element would be in my top five.

It would look something like this:

Star Wars
Empire Strikes Back
2001
Fifth Element
Matrix/Aliens (tie)

Oh, forgot about Fifth Element. That was pretty good.

Frankly, I don't remember the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith. But I sure remember one of the final ones, the duel between the newly-anointed Darth Vader and Obi Wan. Great stuff.

Oh wait, I think I remember- that opened with that big fleet battle in orbit over some planet or other, right? I thought that was pretty cool. Although it did strike me as odd that a valid weapon against fighters was to throw tiny robots at them.

By the way, I used the non-word "spentacles" in my post because I am a pisspoor typist, but I like it and hope to use it again soon.

I think the film makers forgot about that whole gravity thing in the opening flick. Also, if you were trying to land a small piece of a 747, the part without the wings or engines, how successful do you think you'd be?

C,mon man- you're going to play lawyer-ball now?

Just about every sci-fi flick involving spaceships and aliens thoroughly flunks physics in some, if not every, regard.

Star Wars by itself could be a centerpiece in a course called "Non-Physics: How Things Exactly Don't Really Operate", from the turn-n-bank space fighters to the manned laser cannons to the Force to gay androids.

You can't let this scene or that one prevent you from enjoying Star Wars. Let the fact that half of the Star Wars flicks are just kinda crummy prevent you from enjoying them.

And what the fuck are Jawas anyway?

Not so much lawyer ball - you can ignore physics as long as your new world is self consistent (like crouching tiger), or at least you have an explanation (anti gravity, for example.)

The battle scenes in the original were self consistent, or at least enough that I could watch with enjoyment.

That battle bothered my wife, who doesn't typically notice these things. When we first saw it, she leaned over and complained about the gravity.

And physics aside, flying a ship that doesn't have engines is a plot hole, not ignoring science to make entertainment.

Jawas are sand-ewoks

No way! Judging by the martial prowess exhibited on Endor, jawas would've conquered Tatooine eons ago, setting the huts to flight and devouring the few humans who remained.

Jawas are ewoks. Shheh.

"Jawas are sand-ewoks"

Not to be confused with "spice-ewoks"?

Just like Sand People are less effective (both on Earth, and in space), so Sand-Ewoks are less effective militarily than their forest cousins.

Spice Ewoks are harvested from the desert planet Arrakis, or eaten by the Fremen with Fava beans and a nice Chianti.

I:

I was just trying (and failing to be) a smart ass, but you're right - it's not sci-fi. The Mad Max franchise has more of a "hopes and dreams" motif.

Mudoc,
What's missing from your list is "Brother From Another Planet".

Bur what's missing from all of these lists thus far, I just realized, are any of the "Mad Max" flicks.

Agree with Senor Buckethead that the Kyle Machlachlan Dune was shitty.

However, the miniseries that the Sci-Fi Channel produced was most excellent, and much more true to the book (with the exception of an increased role for the character of Irulan, which didn't seem to take away from the overall brilliance). Even the sequel Children of Dune was worthwhile. Both are available on DVD. They get the EDog Recommendation of Approval.

EDog

Galaxy Quest is one of my favorite movies. "Oh, that's not right." The character of Guy is simply perfect.

"Let's get out of here before something kills Guy."

***

"Of course you have a last name."

"Do I? Do I?

****

If I was running my list out to ten, Galaxy Quest, Dark Star, Alien, Star Trek II and Bladerunner would be on it.

*****

Dune is a terrible movie. If someone cool could be convinced to do it, The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert would make a much better movie. Maybe that guy who did Fight Club.

Murdoc's Top Ten

1. Star Wars
2. Blade Runner
3. Alien
4. Aliens
5. Terminator 2
6. Empire Strikes Back
7. Thing From Another World
8. Star Trek II
9. Planet of the Apes
10. E.T.

Looking that over, I don't think it's quite right. But I don't know how to adjust it. Several movies that I'd normally say "are in my top 10" didn't fit into my top 10.

I thoroughly enjoyed Serenity, but come on...

My list runs more like Murdoc's. As much as I liked Serenity and it is very original, it's not got the same punch as Star Wars, ambience as Blade Runner or the The Matrix. I did like Fifth Element, if only for Chris Rock as Ruby Rod. Will it stand the test of time? I don't know.

I never saw the new Planet of the Apes. I hope everyone means the original one.

Dune doesn't rate as films go? Why is that?

EDog is spot on. Galaxy Quest is hilarious.

G:

Though I've only seen it two or three times, I'd have sworn Mad Max was more of a "future documentary".

You're telling me it's not?

GL and P (I feel so cool, using initials like this!),

I'm guessing by and large people don't consider Mad Max and Company real Science Fiction. Certainly, post-apocalyptic fiction falls under the caveat of sci-fi, because nobody knows where else to stick it. That's the problem with the entire genre of science fiction - you have so many wildly different sub-genres that it's almost impossible to define the genre alone. To wit:

-Cyberpunk
-Space Opera
-Alternate History
-Post-Apocalyptic
-Superhero (sure, can't you consider Batman science fiction?)
-Hard Sci-Fi
-Science Fantasy
-Time Travel

You see? How can you define "science fiction" without a sub-genre?

Ian

I'm just appalled that they left out "Millenium". LOL

I don't know that I'd put Serenity at Number 1, but definitely in the top 5. Certainly it was the best "authentic" sci-fi movie to come out in several years.

I'll accept Star Wars: The Original Movie (or even the George Lucas Tweak Version) as belonging at or near the top, because it reinvented the sci-fi movie genre.

Blade Runner, Planet of the Apes (so long as it's the Get-Your-Hands-Off-Me-You-Damn-Dirty-Ape-Charlton Heston one, not the craptacular Marky Mark remake), Matrix, Alien, Terminator, Forbidden Planet, and 2001 I'll all accept as writ.

I agree that The Fifth Element belongs in the short list. A couple others that ought to be up there are Stargate (can you name one other movie that inspired so much?), Tron (really as much of a reinventing of the sci-fi genre as the original Star Wars was - you could make an argument that it was the first "modern" sci-fi movie because of the CG in it which has since become de rigeur - notice me using furrin phasing? That makes me sound smarter than I is), and Akira (probably ignored because it's a frickin' cartoon, never mind that it's also an amazing production).

To Patton: The Matrix 2 and 3 were okay if you don't go in with expectations beyond the FX candy. The long car chase in 2 is worth the price of admission, as is the Teahouse brawl. In 3, you get the neat Burley brawl and a lot of symbolism making Neo into Christ and Morpheus into Peter. Plus there's the fun attack on Zion, with lotsa shit blowin' up real good. And I giggle every time I see Jada Pinkett take the controls of the Mjolnir, swearing mightily "God, she's got a fat ass!" Oh, and there's this one scene where you think, oh good, they're going to explain it all for me right here. And you watch the scene. And you go, huh? Nobody who has seen 3 has watched this scene and not rewound it and watched it again, wondering if you missed a key point or something. I won't say more than that, because I don't wanna spoil it.

Honorable Mentions: Galaxy Quest, for sending up the Star Trek franchise so brilliantly; Ghost In The Shell, one of the best cyberpunk animes ever; Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, just because I liked it; and Independence Day, which despite the huge gaping plot holes brought a return to the Humans Kick Ass And American Humans Kick Even More Ass genre - a welcome shift from the E.T. introspective self-loathing that was so prevalent in the 80s and 90s.

I could go on at length, but my damn webcomic server is down, and Monday's strip has been up since, well, Monday. It's got sci-fi in it too. Tom Servo guest stars this week...

EDog
http://ianthealy.comicgen.com

E:

Thanks for the updated take on Matrix II & III. My primary reason for leaving them in the cellophane has been that the original was so good, and so "out there", and the descriptions I've heard of the sequels were that they simply didn't wrap up any of the loose ends that were so nicely laid out in the original.

I don't recall too many other movies which had such an excellent chance to finish their point, any point, in their follow-ons, and I was unwilling to subject myself to the disappointment in a great premise lost.

So I'll go off and watch them both now, thanks. Well, not right now, but one day soon.