The Best Sci-Fi
I was just reading this Entertainment Weekly list of the Sci-Fi 25. FireFly comes in at #15, and the top ten list is filled with The Thing (Better than Terminator and Terminator 2?), Aliens, Star Trek:TNG, E.T., Brazil, Star Trek II; The Wrath of Khan, The X-Files, Blade Runner and Battlestar Gallatica at number 2. When I was reading this list I sat at number 2 and pondered…. is there any Sci-Fi that has affected me more than Blade Runner or The X-Files? Do you think Battlestar Gallatica deserves a second place spot (I’m talking to you, my friend who watches the show). And the most puzzling question to me is what could be number one. Well, The Matrix of course. The Matrix is great, don’t get me wrong, but for me it is not better than Brazil, Aliens, Terminator, and most of all Blade Runner. What do you think?
-Josh
Posted on January 9th, 2008 by schalicto
Filed under: Josh Rants
I like the list, though it has some rough spots. They seem to be running a bit freely with their definition of SciFi, since there are indeed SciFi elements in a show like Eternal Sunshine, It is definitely NOT a SciFi movie. Galaxy quest is really a comedy, not SciFi; Where’s the Hitchhiker’s Guide (the new one) if Galaxy Quest makes the cut?
I agree with you about the Matrix, it is a great movie, maybe a #3 or 4, but not the best by a long shot.
Why should Battlestar Galactica get the #2 spot, you ask? The guts. Not gore, mind you, but balls. The show revolves around the most well built and thought-provoking themes of any SciFi that I can think of. One episode has the President forced to decide whether abortion can still morally be considered legal when the human race is poised on the brink of extinction. They devoted a whole episode to that, and it was fantastic.
It has the grittiness of Blade Runner joined with the character development of Firefly joined with the social presence of something like The West Wing. To me that is a winning combination. Actually, it is a winning combination, it won a bunch of awards, including an Emmy and a Peabody for the writing.
I agree with Levit on their definition of Sci-Fi being implied loosely. While X-files had a huge overall Sci-Fi theme to it, Eternal Sunshine used Sci-Fi as a macguffin. I really feel this is a list of the top 25 Science Fiction-ess Movie/TV shows to come out or be re-released in the past 10 or 15 years that has a large enough fan base to buy the magazine.
With what little I have seen of Battlestar Galactica I will try to explain it. Battlestar Galactica sort of like X-Files only reversed. X-files takes place in the present and it dealing with Sci-Fi events. Battlestar Galactica takes place in a Sci-Fi universe and is dealing with present day problems. I think it should be on the list, not at #2 but in the top 10 at least.
Now how did 2001 get left off the list or the original Star Wars Trilogy or any of the Godzilla movies minus the recent remake? Both of those are cornerstones in the Sci-Fi world.
thanks for the comments guys! to aaron, i think you are mostly right, but x-files is strictly sci-fi.
Well, I will offer a mature opinion to this cultured discussion. I definately think that “Matrix” deserves to be in the top 10 of any Sci-Fi list, and by “Matrix” I mean the original, not anything with the two horrid followup episodes. I also feel that the original “Highlander” deserves recognition in the top 10 and EW didn’t even mention it. As I perused the list I did notice that we weren’t really talking about legitiment film productions, I don’t feel that fully animated productions don’t belong on a truely objective look at Sci-fi movies. Also, I may get some flak from you learned individuals but, “I-Robot” needs to be included simply because it was created in the mind of one of the greatest Sci-fi writers.
I would be glad to take on any valid discussion to my points.
Okay, maybe I was being a bit to harsh on The Matrix. And I agree that Highlander should have at least been on the list and we can all agree that Eternal Sunshine was a great movie but wasn’t strictly the sort of Sci-Fi that this list should have been concerned about.
Dad used a double negative and I’m not exactly sure what he meant by it.
While I-Robot might be one of the most classic works by Issac Asimov that doesn’t mean the movie is great. Maybe it is great, I haven’t seen it.
-Josh
I don’t think animated movies belong on this list. There that about covers it.
That list is mostly bull shit. As soon as I saw Galaxy Quest on the list I knew this to be true. Its nice that they showed some props to The Thing and a few others that deserve to be on the list might not have been expected, but over all I don’t like that list and I don’t like what they had to say about the movies that were on it.