2001: A Space Odyssey
Admittedly when I watched 2001 for the first time back in high school, I fell asleep within the first half hour. That doesn't sound like very good praise for a film you consider to be part of your top five favorite science fiction movies but when I sat down to watch it again I realized that it was because I wasn't used to 2001's speed and style. I grew up watching the fast paced and action packed Star Wars and loud, obnoxious cartoons. The movie has a very slow pace with little dialogue so its the visuals that keep you watching throughout the first forty five minutes or so. But unlike many movies that make the mistake of putting more emphasis on visuals and less on acting or story, 2001 succeeded in all three. Written by scientist and sci-fi author Arthur C. Clark and legendary director Stanley Kubrick, 2001 one takes you on a journey from man's fragile beginnings to its encounter with a mysterious alien technology in the depths of the solar system.
Blade Runner
Like THX-1138 or John Carpenter's The Thing, Blade Runner has become sort of a cult sci-fi movie for the past thirty years. Set in a highly polluted and overpopulated near future in Los Angeles, Blade Runners like Harrison Ford's character Deckard are paid to hit the streets and hunt down fugitive synthetics, advanced robots who'll do anything to delay their own destruction. Blade Runner is very cerebral with elements from other films like Taxi Driver and The French Connection. The world of Blade Runner was what certain demographics and crowds were looking for who were tired of the warm-hearted feel good blockbuster that was E.T..
Alien
For many years I've put Alien on a very high pedestal. Story-wise it really bordered on being a B movie, but it was the cast, the acting and visually striking sets and star monster that elevated the picture into something that was far from mediocre and revolutionized horror and sci-fi. With an eerie yet beautiful score that wasn't overly present, slow and simple camera movement and a Hitchcock-esc method of letting the audience scare themselves, Alien was a departure from the kind of sci-fi audiences had been getting for quite some time and it opened a lot of doors for other filmmakers. I loved the whole underlying dynamic of the antagonist Weyland Corporation acting as the man behind the curtain or puppeteer pulling the strings so to speak. Prometheus was a great compliment to this movie and I'm very much looking forward to the sequel.
A.I. : Artificial Intelligence
In my opinion Spielberg is at his best when he's doing sci-fi and this is my favorite Spielberg sci-fi movie. The story was originally the brainchild of 2001 co-writer Stanley Kubrick and he had intended on directing the movie that was to become A.I. but passed away before he got the opportunity. He asked Spielberg to do it and after a lot of back and forth between the two directors over who was right for it, Spielberg finally agreed to make the movie for his dying friend. I'm sure A.I. would've been great had Kubrick directed it but Spielberg did an amazing job. Most of the sci-fi I love, as you can probably tell, deals with the philosophy of having robots who look just like us also walk among us as equals and I've always been fascinated with that dilemma of whether or not man is going to far with technology. Haley Joel Osment really showed his acting chops here and I wish the movie was more widely recognized and accepted. A very intelligent and beautiful story all around, check it out.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Last but absolutely not least we come to the masterpiece that is Empire, my number one fav. If you ask most Star Wars fans what their favorite Star Wars episode is, you get the answer "Empire!". And for good reason, you're entering a story in which the universe and characters have already been established so there's little need to explain much beyond the iconic opening plot scroll in space. For me Empire has everything I want in a sci-fi movie, or most movies for that matter. I've seen it so many times I can replay it word for word, scene by scene in my head without error. How do you like them nerdy apples? But seriously, I think it strikes a chord with a lot of people in the way that many second acts do. Its when everything goes to Hell and the antagonist gets the upper hand. In this case the antagonist happens to be my favorite character and Empire was the ultimate Vader comeback. What really did it for me was that Lucas took a back seat and hired a director that understood what this movie needed. If only Kershner had directed Revenge of The Sith.
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